An Australian water company has published an integrated profit and loss account (IP&L), quantifiying its annual environmental, social, employee and financials costs and benefits in monetary terms.
Yarra Valley Water worked with environmental data provider Trucost and consultancy GIST Advisory to calculate its positive and negative impacts on natural, social, employee and financial capital.
The analysis found that the firm had created benefits of AU$53m in 2014–15, mainly due to its wastewater treatment operations, employee benefits of AU$13m through training, and social benefits of AU$6.4m through providing water services to vulnerable households.
Its impacts are primarily emissions of greenhouse gases from electricity and fuel use, and disposing of waste to landfill, which were valued at $AU3.8m.
The firm plans to use the results of its IP&L to prioritise projects including integrated water management opportunities, community health and how far it can integrate renewable energy generation, such as energy-from-waste in its business.
