the potential for detrimental environmental impacts resulting from their activities. According to LT, companies disclose environmental information to present a socially responsible image so that they can legitimise their behaviours to their stakeholder groups (see, for example, Buhr, 1998 ; Deegan, 2002 ; Neu et al. , 1998 ; O'Donovan, 2002 ). LT is based on the idea that a "social contract" exists between business and society. In LT, society is considered to allow companies to exist and have rights, and in return expects them to fulfil its expectations about how their operations should be conducted. Therefore, in order to survive a company must ensure that the activities it undertakes actually are or are perceived as being in accordance with the values and norms of society. When society's expectations are not fulfilled, that is, a company's actual or perceived behaviour is not in accordance with social values and norms, a breach of contract exists and a legitimacy gap may develop. Findings suggest that Cimpor changed environmental disclosure practices to manage its legitimacy which was threatened by the co-incineration controversy whereas Secil has not. The strategy adopted by Cimpor may be described as one of trivializing or skirting the issue, by not directly addressing the issue. Secil has directly addressed the issue since its inception. In the following section, the theoretical framework used is presented. The third section provides background information on the co-incineration controversy in Portugal. The fourth section outlines the research design and methodology. The fifth section presents the