Management and Cost Accounting Water Production Industry

Question: Discuss about the Management and Cost Accounting for Water Production Industry. Answer: Introduction "Water is Life," this phrase has been used a lot of times to prove how this product is important to the existence of human being. This can be used to explain why the water production industry has boomed globally. It is estimated that over 60 million people consume plastic bottled water per annum. Based on this figure we can say that over approximately over 300 million people use bottled water globally within the figure expected to grow by 20% in the next five years (Residential Waste Systems, 2015). Water is a market in different quantities according to the consumers' preferences. The packaging bottled range from 200ml to 20 litres. However, we have to think about the environmental impact caused by this bottles have they have disposed of in the waterways or landfills by the consumers. It takes a dumped plastic bottles over a hundred years to decompose. The bottles find their way into oceans causing severe environmental problems. Unless, the dumped bottles are recycled, the environment is at risk, we won't enjoy fresh air, and access quality water (Niccolucci Botto, 2011). Prepare a diagram to show the life cycle for a bottle of water. For each of the stages in the bottle life cycle, identify whatever impacts on society and the environment (not more than 200 words each stage). When consumers purchase a distilled water packaged in a bottle, what they have never realized is that a larger portion of the cost charged on the plastic bottle. We go on enjoying our water without considering the environmental cost (Blanke Burdick, 2015). This section discusses each stage of a bottle life cycle to identify the associated environmental costs. I would say that the cost of a water bottle, from the beginning and the end of a water bottle, is expensive. Awareness of the environmental issues has increased making many people interested in the life cycle of a water bottle. Raw Material Extraction (Start) The life cycle commences after natural gas, and crude oil has been extracted from the environment. The extraction process is followed by the transportation of crude oil to the processing plant where it is distilled to separate hydrocarbons such as fuel, gas, plastic among others (Dw Akademie, 2014). This stage raises a lot of environmental issues because most of the manufacturing companies use bio-plastic which is considered to be unfriendly to the environment. Bottles are manufactured using polymers plant materials. Although, many people think that polymers are environmentally friendly since they do not require any form of extraction (Bulkeley Betsill, 2002). However, Bio-plastic has a short-term life expectancy, and it is only during this time that they are considered to be friendly to the environment. However, they are deemed unfit to be used in storing products for a long time. The Process involves emission of greenhouse gasses to the environment which causes harm to the Ozone layer (Gleick Cooley, 2009). Polymerization This is the second in the water bottle life cycle which involves the manufacturing of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The PET, which is mostly used in the production of plastic bottles in manufactured using the petroleum hydrocarbon. PET is obtained from a mixture of hydrocarbons and chemical catalysts which are used to trigger polymerization. There is a lot of carbon emitted to the atmosphere from this process making its dangerous (Hospido Tyedmers, 2005). The PET induced in a process known as injection molding where is heated and molded. However, depending on the type of the bottle to be produced, the PET mixture differs. With the increasing environmental concerned, environment stakeholders such as manufacturers, activists, and the government agencies have engaged in tests to examine whether or not PET is dangerous to the environment. PET is considered to be thick, glossy and permeable to carbon dioxide. The test is a basis of inventing more effective ways of polymerization process (ISO, 2006). Molding There several methods of molding water bottles, however, injection molding is commonly used because it is considered to me friendlier to the environment. Plastic pellets or granules are induced into the heating hopper the process which liquefies them. The liquefied plastic is then pushed down to a press which molds the bottle into desired shapes and sizes. Blow molding is the same as direct injection with the only difference being that the former uses air jet to in molding the liquefied plastic (Saylor, Prokopy, Amberg, 2011). There are no greenhouse gasses emitted from this process therefore considered to be environmental friendly. Packaging The packaging process comprises of disinfection, filling, capping, branding, and packaging the bottled water ready to be transported. A specialized machine performs the packaging process. The machine clasps a bottle by the top and conveys it to the filling machine where it is filled with the prescribed water volume (Nieuwlaar, 2014). The stage also involves grouping the bottles after packaging then shipping them to the markets where the consumers buy them from supermarket shelves and put them in the refrigerators. Of all the stages involved at this stage, transportation step brings about environmental issues. The packaged water bottles are transported to the marketplaces using both sea and roads (Nieuwlaar, 2014). The two mediums of transport are associated with oil spillage and carbon emissions. Ships are prone to accidents which result into oil spillage in the seas and oceans which would ruin the marine life. Ships also emit carbons to the environment which bring more harm to the Ozone layer; the same case applies to road transportation (Nieuwlaar, 2014). With the increased congestions in our roads, carbon emissions by vehicles are considered to the major cause of air pollution after industrial carbon emissions. Therefore, additional of trucks transporting bottled water only means more harm to the environment (McLeod, Bharadway, Waldner, 2014). Disposing of Used Bottles After water bottles have been bought and consumed, the bottles because useless and are disposed of by the consumers. These bottles become trash and are thrown in the dumpsites, end up in the oceans or the landfills. Either way, the trash harms the environment. At the dumpsters and landfills, the bottles can collected water creating conducive breading sites for mosquitoes. The scenario is likely to cause malaria outbreak endangering the lives of the people living nearby especially pregnant women and children under the age of five (Mahajan, Walia, Lark, Sumanjit, 2006). Likewise, during the rainy seasons, the trash is carried into the rivers, oceans, and seas by floods a process which might cause wreaking havoc on sea animals and ocean ecosystems. The problem has led stores and supermarkets to install redemption machines near residential areas and social places to collect recyclable bottles. This is an effort to reduce the amount of harm caused to the environment (ISO, 2006). Recycling Stage After bottles have been collected, they are transported to the manufacturing plants for the recycling process to begin. The recycling stage comprises of shredding the collected bottles, washing the shredded bottles, sterilization and then selling them back to the water bottling firms. The recycled plastic pellets are used to manufacture more bottles, plastic lumber, fleece blankets or even plastic bags (Nieuwlaar, 2014). With this in mind, it is prudent enough to say that recycling is an effective way reducing the harm caused by water bottle to the environment once they have been dumped after use. However, this only solves a small portion of the increasing environmental pollution. The use of bio-plastics at the manufacturing stage besides recycling is considered as an excellent way of saving the environment from harm. Note: The life cycle of a water bottle starts once again at the recycling stage. As stated above, a fraction of the recycled plastics is sold back to the bottling companies. Identify additional information that you would need to evaluate the environmental impact. The production of water bottles and subsequent transportation to the consumer markets contributes to environmental pollution. It is estimated that the amount of photo-oxidant creation amount to 66%, acidification amount to 52%, the energy demand of 46%, depletion of abiotic resources amounts to 43%, and 37% global warming. The comparison is based on the contributions made by all the six bottle water life cycle stages. Therefore, in assessing the life cycle of bottle water production, the economic, expenditure and the amount of carbon emissions released into the environment on an annual basis should be examined (Betsill, 2001). The production of bottled water comes with economic benefits and expenses. With the industrialization advancement, the Australian government has created a friendly environment by implementing a favourable policy to support industrial investment. Industrialization comes with the creation of employment opportunities to the citizens who in return contribute to the economic development. This is the positive side of industrial advancement. However, the benefits come at an enormous cost (Hospido Tyedmers, 2005). First, the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted to the atmosphere increases with the increase in the number of production factories in the economy. The emissions increase air pollution. Therefore when assessing the environmental effect caused by water bottle life cycle, an audit on the existing production factories in Australia should be conducted. The audit will help us to identify the growth rate of the factors (Gleick Cooley, 2009). The increase of factors means increased use of polymers at the manufacturing stage and purchase of more trucks for transportation subsequently leading to environmental harms. Second, the annual expenditure on the bottled water by the Australian citizens' should be assessed as well. Clean water is an essential product that people cannot do without. People believe that bottled water is associated with quality hence spending a lot on this product (Coolaustralia.org, 2016). It is estimated that approximately 4.9 million people drink bottled water on a daily basis. As the population grows, the number is estimated to increase gradually. This means that the demand for bottled water will increase leading to production more bottles. Therefore, it would be worth to conduct an assessment population growth, economic growth, and the people's expenditure trend on bottled water. As the expenditure increases so will be the emissions which lead to environmental pollution. Improved economic performance and expenditure on bottled water automatically leads to increased emissions of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere (Bulkeley Betsill, 2002). These are the issues that should be thoroughly assessed to arrive at a detailed report outlining the environmental impacts of production and transportation of water bottles. Prepare a brief report of not more than 400 words to the shareholders of PSW explaining why it is in their best interests to carefully manage the organization's environmental impact The production of water bottles using polymers products has attracted several environmental issues as discussed above. Manufacturers of water bottles and other stakeholders should take effective measures to solve the problem. Several measures should be taken (ISO, 2006). First, they should consider using an oil-free alternative. The effort has been made to use bio-plastic in the production of water bottles. Bio-plastic is extracted from plants such as sugarcane and corn which oil-free. Plastics made from bio-plastic brings less effect to the environment and are easily biodegradable. This is an alternative that should be fully invested in to reduce the level of environmental harm. Second, consider climate-friendly transport methods in the transportation of bottled water. The exclusive use of trucks to transport water products in Australia emits a large amount of carbon dioxide leading to global warming. It is to the best interest of every stakeholder to reduce the amount of carbon emitted to the environment. Therefore, the stakeholders should look for alternative ways of transporting their products (Nieuwlaar, 2014). Third, the stakeholders should take the recycling of the dumped water bottles seriously. The manufacturer should liaise with stores and supermarkets to create empty bottle collection sites. Consumers should be offered an incentive per bottle. For example, a $0.3 incentive to be given to consumers who brings the bottles at the collection site (McLeod, Bharadway, Waldner, 2014). Likewise, the government and manufacturers should pay the store for their efforts of keeping the environment clean. The system has been successful in the USA, Germany, and the UK and it is my belief that it will succeed in Australia as well if supported by all the stakeholders. It is the duty of the stakeholders to come up with other alternatives to using recycled plastics apart from being recycled to produce new bottles. Already the current alternatives include the production of fleeces used in blankets and clothing. Such alternatives would bring about effective methods of keeping the environment clean without bringing a lot of cost on the stakeholders. It has always been said that it is better to take proactive measures instead of spending a lot on reactive methods (Niccolucci Botto, 2011). The stakeholders operating in the water industry should be socially responsible and protect the environment at all cost. The future of their businesses is at risk if the environmental issues mentioned above are not handled effectively. 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