Resource- and eco-effectiveness as a new paradigm of development to prevent resource depletion and environmental imbalance

Pursuing eco-efficiency in all industrial activities has become a target in the last two decades, and many positive results have led to the belief that this could be the solution to resource and environmental questions. However, even by recognising the encouraging results obtained in several large- and medium-sized companies, mainly in the field of energy conversion rates, this paradigm seems to be limited if one considers the questions from a macro-economic view: no substantial changes have occurred into how energy and mineral resources are utilized, and environmental imbalances have increased all over the world. This is why the recently-developed paradigm and concept of resource- and eco-effectiveness should be considered as most suited to open up wider perspectives in economic development, despite the fact that economic thought has neglected such a concept, whereas it has widely developed the concept of efficiency. Following previous research work, where this new paradigm has been defined and implemented through a model, in this work its potential utilization is analysed and discussed, not only on a theoretical basis, but also with real applications to specific productive branches or to a whole economy, in order to find new solutions able to modify the traditional resource utilization criteria and, consequently, to offset present trends toward resource depletion and environmental imbalance.