Nowadays, and increasingly in the future, environmental performance is a competitive factor for companies. Ultimately, companies less efficient from the standpoint of environmental will have more difficulty surviving in a market increasingly open and globalized.

Eco-Efficiency corresponds to a concept of corporate governance that tends to promote within the company, more efficient organization of productive processes, increasing quality of products manufactured or services rendered.

As in Industrial Ecology, Eco-Efficiency assumes that economic and environmental concerns are not mutually exclusive, rather, their combination provides benefits both for companies and for society at large, guaranteeing business continuity on a sustainable basis. It is intended to enhance the competitiveness of enterprises through reduction of production costs with energy, raw materials and water consumption, waste management and increased security by minimizing risk.

The trend in terms of legislation, public opinion and expectations of business partners goes towards a full accountability of companies in all environmental aspects. The best way to quantify the Eco-Efficiency of a company is the analysis of performance indicators, which can form an important basis for evaluating its environmental performance.

The key to Eco-Efficiency is to create more value, consuming fewer resources and minimizing environmental impacts. Essentially represents an innovative strategy, but also a evolutionary one, which takes a new perspective of the needs of society, especially regarding sustainable development.