It is important to understand that eco-efficiency and Zero Waste are not simply about making incremental improvements in existing practices and habits. On the contrary, they should stimulate creativity and innovation in the search for new ways to do business. The application of eco-efficiency and Zero Waste concepts are not limited to a manufacturer’s plant and management, but are most effective when applied throughout the entire supply chain of a product or process.

Becoming more efficient makes good business sense. Eco-efficiency and Zero Waste call for business to achieve more value from lower inputs of materials and energy and with reduced emissions. Waste does not enhance customer or stakeholder value and therefore ultimately has no place in business. Zero Waste can potentially enable business to maximise the amount of product per unit of raw material and reduce the cost of production. Additionally, every unit of material sent to waste carries a disposal cost. Therefore, by reducing waste, businesses can reduce costs.

Some may argue that efficiency in business is not a new concept and that business has always been focused on efficiency. However, reality paints a different picture: in New Zealand 55% of solid waste landfilled is from industrial sources. Cleaner Production programmes have consistently demonstrated impressive savings even with companies that have considered themselves ‘state of the art’ .

Business has proven to be extraordinarily efficient in some ways – such as its ability to deliver goods and services to consumers – but it has so far been extraordinarily inefficient in its use of resources. The business model in use today evolved with the assumptions that the earth provided an infinite source of raw materials and an unlimited capacity to absorb the waste products that were generated. It is clear today that with the growing population, impacts of pollution such as global warming, and continuing reliance on non-renewable materials, that this is no longer true and that we are fast approaching the limits of the earth to provide the services we have taken for granted.

There is a need for New Zealand businesses to support the emerging secondary materials economy through purchasing decisions that favour products manufactured from recycled resources. Zero Waste is about 'closing the loop', and business plays a crucial role in influencing consumer choice and promoting alternative products.

Almost all the countries that import or compete with New Zealand products have higher population densities than New Zealand. These countries will increasingly have to develop or import products that enable them to save on landfill space, reduce pollution, reduce waste at its source and conserve energy. This trend is well established in Europe and North America and is emerging in the more developed Asian countries. New Zealand cannot afford to get left behind by creating products that are limited in their markets as a consequence of being designed for a high waste society. The imperative to gear New Zealand products to meet international best practice in waste minimisation will become stronger and stronger as these pressures increase.

The NZBCSD has acknowledged the recent growth of Zero Waste, including its adoption by a number of leading companies such as those profiled in the following pages of this website. The value of Zero Waste to business is that it provides a stretch target and a guiding vision for the process of continuous improvement within the eco-efficiency model.