During the past four years, Blanding Company has made significant efforts to improve its environmental performance. Two of the strategic objectives which have received consider¬

able attention are those of minimizing hazardous materials and minimizing release of liq¬

uid residues. Actually, there are two objectives associated with hazardous waste. First, the company wants to reduce the amount produced. Second, the company wants to shift the ways of dealing with hazardous waste from landfill and deep well injections to such meth¬

ods as incineration, treatment, and recycling. Kim Gladden, president of Blanding, also re¬

quired the Accounting Department to track and report on environmental progress. Internal and external environmental progress reports are prepared. Given below are data pertaining to the two strategic objectives that have been emphasized.

Hazardous waste objective (measure is in tons):

The cost of landfilling hazardous waste is $50 per ton; injection is $60 per ton; incinera¬
tion is $70 per ton; treatment is $100 per ton; and recycling produces a benefit of $10 per ton.
Recycling, however, can be done only for a certain type of hazardous waste and only with a 70% successful yield. Treatment is also limited to certain types of waste. Fines, pollution con¬
trol equipment, and expected cleanup costs are $4,000 per ton for the liquid residues.
Required:
1. Prepare a bar graph for hazardous waste that shows trends. Comment on the progress revealed.
2. Prepare a pie chart for hazardous waste for the years 1998 and 2001. Comment on the progress in reducing reliance on landfills and injections.
3. Prepare a bar graph for the liquid residue.
4. Calculate the environmental cost for hazardous waste and liquid residue in 1998 and 2001. Comment on environmental progress as measured by the financial outcomes. Is it possible that the savings are understated? Explain.

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Year Incinerated Treated Recycled Landfilled Injection Total 1998 2,000 2,000 1,000 35,000 10,000 50,000 1999 4,000 2,000 2,000 30,000 10,000 48,000 2000 8,000 3,000 3,000 25,000 7,000 46,000 2001 15,000 3,000 3,500 15,000 3,500 40,000 Liquid residue objective: Year Tons of Sulfates 1998 100 1999 92 2000 81 2001 73