EMA in SMEs: Ten Italian Case Studies

The research project described in this paper is part of a programme conceived by the Industry Association of Brescia (AIB) to promote the diffusion of Environment and Safety Management Systems among its member companies. Initial difficulties regarding the implementation of environmental management accounting (EMA) systems in the pilot companies, concerns about operational costs, the need to adapt accounting systems, and some reluctance to collect data, were finally overcome by providing technical assistance and tools. Starting with the evaluation of quality management system (QMS) costs, specific schemes have been developed and provided to the companies, based primarily on evaluation methods for quality costs, but at the same time fully complying with EMA requirements. On this basis, collaboration with the companies started to be satisfactory and useful.This paper presents these schemes together with the results of their application in ten small to medium-sized companies operating in different industrial sectors.