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Different impact measurement standards can help you performyour analysis:
• ISO 14010 sets environmental auditing criteria
• ISO 14030 sets environmental performance evaluation criteria
• ISO 14040 sets life cycle assessment criteria.
• ISO 14020 sets the environmental labelling criteria

1.3 Eco-efficiency, company performance and macro-economic benefits

Company performance and competitively is at the heart of the WBCSD’s definition of eco efficiency as
eco-efficiency is achieved by the “delivery of competitively priced goods and services”.

At a basic level, eco-efficiency means, “doing more with less”. It enables more efficient production
processes and the creation of better products and services while reducing resource use, waste, and
pollution along the entire value chain. Not only can it save production costs but can also open up new
sources of revenue for companies. 1

The OECD defines eco efficiency as a ratio on an output (the value of products and services produced by
2
a firm, sector or economy as a whole) divided by an input (the sum of environmental pressures generated
by the firm, sector or economy). Eco-efficiency is therefore directly related to the company performance. It
also prioritizes human welfare over nature exploitation.

The reduction in ecological impacts translates into an increase in resource productivity, which in turn can
create competitive advantage. A further competitive advantage is financial: indeed financial markets have
started to look at the environmental performance of companies as it was proven that companies that have
implemented eco-efficiency usually outperform their competitors that didn’t.

Here is the most important advice for implementing eco efficiency in your company: 3

• Revalorize your products and think about new resources
revenue from waste
• Apply systemic risk minimization
• Cooperate with other companies in order to maximize
the use of resources
• Know your customer and sell functional products and
services
• Provide users with comprehensive solutions
• Create new businesses with add on services
• Rethinking opportunities in the light of changing markets (new taxes, increased consumer awareness).

1 http://docs.wbcsd.org/2006/08/EfficiencyLearningModule.pdf
2 http://docs.wbcsd.org/2006/08/EfficiencyLearningModule.pdf
3 http://docs.wbcsd.org/2006/08/EfficiencyLearningModule.pdf