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Abstract
Eco-efficiency is a concept which aims at decoupling economic growth from resource use and pollution. The objective of this paper is to review how the application of this concept to dairy processing has evolved over time. Following the introduction of the concept, guidelines and recommendations were introduced in the dairy sector. The absence of a lifecycle perspective and means of measuring improvement led to a subsequent addition of efficiency and intensity assessments. As restrictive regulations and comprehensive methodologies integrating the life-cycle perspective in eco-efficiency assessments were virtually non-existent, the ISO 14045 standard was developed. However, as of yet the dairy processing sector does not appear to have embraced the ISO methodology. Nonetheless, process simulation tools may help and could therefore contribute to the implementation of the eco-efficiency assessments in the dairy processing sector.
Highlights
Eco-efficiency is a concept that emerged in the early nineties as a form of management philosophy devised for the world of business and industry, and that adheres to a sustainable development approach
The objective of this paper is to review how the application of this concept to dairy processing has evolved over time
The main objective of this paper is to provide a historical perspective of the eco-efficiency concept and describe how its application to dairy processing has evolved over time in the dairy processing industry
Summary
Eco-efficiency is a concept that emerged in the early nineties as a form of management philosophy devised for the world of business and industry, and that adheres to a sustainable development approach. It links business profitability to resource productivity, while the Cleaner Production concept focuses solely on the environmental aspect (UNEP-WBCSD, 1998). It emphasises value creation, aiming to route competitiveness and taking into account sustainable consumption as well as sustainable production (DeSimone & Popoff, 1997). Dairy processing activities add value to raw milk and create jobs (about 240 million people are directly or indirectly employed in this sector worldwide), dairy products involve significant use of resources and generation of polluting discharges (De Jong, 2013). While there appears to be reasonable grounds for profitable but resource-intensive industries to embrace the eco-efficiency concept, twenty-five years later, it is far from being fully implemented in the dairy processing sector. The main objective of this paper is to provide a historical perspective of the eco-efficiency concept and describe how its application to dairy processing has evolved over time in the dairy processing industry
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