Eco-efficiency assessment in the agricultural sector: The case of fresh form tomato crop in Phthiotida

During the last two decades, the concept of eco-efficiency has been recognized as a suitable measure of progress towards a greener and more sustainable economy. The prefix “eco-” refers to both economic and ecological (environmental) performance. Therefore, it becomes critical to develop eco-efficiency metrics for measuring environmental and economic performance of a system. The current paper presents a methodological framework that attempts to explore the use of eco-efficiency indicators in meso-level water use systems and through them to assess the impact of new and innovative technologies in such systems. The environmental performance is expressed through the use of environmental midpoint impact categories while the economic performance is measured using the total value added to the system’s product due to water use. The proposed approach has been applied to a water use system of the agricultural sector, and more specifically to the fresh form tomato crop production in Phthiotida.