Abstract

The economic development is currently forcing many companies and the public sector to make savings. The reasons are declining revenues, collapsing sales and increased raw material prices. Cost-cutting measures often focus on personnel costs, although there is also considerable potential for savings and innovation in energy and material costs. However, there is still no talk of a systematic implementation of the "idea" of material efficiency. Christa Liedtke and Timo Busch start at this point and discuss how material efficiency can become a success factor for innovative products and competitiveness.