Resumen de Analysis of eco-efficiency progress in industrial production
María Blanca Fernández Viñé, Tomás Gómez Navarro, Salvador Capuz Rizo
An eco-efficient business manages to produce high-quality, profitable goods and services, with an environmental impact compatible with the Earth's carrying capacity. Eco-efficiency is currently in a phase of expansion; numerous environmental management systems and tools, support initiatives, and application experiences now exist. To understand how this strategy is being developed and which driving forces enhance the implementation of eco-efficiency, a comparative analysis of case studies both directly and indirectly related to eco-efficiency is presented in this work. These surveys were undertaken in Canada, United Kingdom, Holland, Finland, Spain and Latin America. In addition, an assessment of eco-efficiency performance in small and medium sized business in Venezuela has been conducted. The first findings of this assessment in Venezuela and their comparison to the other case studies are also discussed in this paper. The comparison enables us to draw conclusions regarding the driving forces of ecoefficiency which are: training and motivation of human resources, the market (costumers, suppliers, and competitors), environmental legislation, production technologies and infrastructures, among others. The conclusions of this research highlight the differences and similarities between regions, establishing cause-and-effect relationships between the driving forces and the evidence of eco-efficiency found, allowing for a better understanding of how to promote eco-efficiency in businesses.
