Benefits and costs of recycling

A benefit is anything that has a positive impact. It can be internal to the business or affect individuals and groups outside the business. A cost is anything that has a negative impact. It can be either internal or external.

When examining benefits and costs, it is standard practice to try to measure them. The usual way to do this is to attach a monetary value to the costs and benefits. Businesses carry out decisions when the benefits outweigh the costs. By continually monitoring its performance, Corus is increasingly able to reduce costs and deliver benefits to stakeholders.

Corus enjoys both social and financial benefits from recycling. Everyone can see how the company is actively working to improve the environment. A cost-benefit analysis has also shown that the benefits of recycling are much greater than the costs.

Key Performance Indicators

The performance of a company can be measured by creating Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These give the company targets to work towards and help to measure success.

Corus has created a number of KPIs that focus on becoming more sustainable including:

• by 2010, reducing total energy consumption in the UK by 11.5% compared to 1997

• by 2010, increasing the steel packaging recycling rate in the UK to 55%

• achieving compliance with required emission levels.