n.
The ability to manufacture goods efficiently and with as little effect on the environment as possible.
Example Citation:
McDonough and Alston contend it is not enough for the corporate world to embrace 'eco-efficiency' — a business buzzword coined in the early 1990s.
— William Grady, "Environmental care encouraged," Chicago Tribune, November 4, 2001
Earliest Citation:
J. Hugh Faulkner, executive director of Business Council for Sustainable Development, Geneva, who developed the concept of 'eco-efficiency' said sustainable development was 'good politics and good economics.'
— "Environment watchdog body in UAE soon," Moneyclips, April 8, 1992
Notes:
As the above citation says, this buzzphrase was coined in the early 1990s. The mint was the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, which defined eco-efficiency thusly:
The delivery of competitively-priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and bring quality of life, while progressively reducing ecological impacts and resource intensity throughout the life cycle, to a level at least in line with the earth's estimated carrying capacity.
What a buzzword bonanza! Now if I could only figure out what all that gobbledygook actually means.
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New words. 2013.