What is ISO 14045 – Eco-efficiency assessment guidelines about?  
Eco-efficiency assessment is a quantitative management tool which enables the study of life-cycle environmental impacts of a product system along with its product system value for a stakeholder.
ISO 14045 is an International Standard that describes the principles, requirements and guidelines for eco-efficiency assessment for product systems, including:
- The goal and scope definition of the eco-efficiency assessment
- The environmental assessment
- The product system value assessment
- The quantification of eco-efficiency
- Interpretation (including quality assurance)
- Reporting
- Critical review of the eco-efficiency assessment
Requirements, recommendations, and guidelines for specific choices of categories of environmental impact and values are not included. The intended application of the eco-efficiency assessment is considered during the goal and scope definition phase, but the actual use of the results is outside the scope of ISO 14045.
Who is ISO 14045 - Eco-efficiency assessment guidelines for? 
ISO 14045 on ‘Eco-efficiency assessment guidelines’ is applicable to all companies irrespective of sector, size, or location. ISO 14045 is useful for: 
- Senior management of production companies
- Environment management teams at production companies
- Risk management teams
- Documentation / reporting / compliance teams
- Product design engineers/innovation teams
- Quality control personnel
- Environmental authorities
Why should you use ISO 14045 – Eco-efficiency assessment guidelines?  
Within eco-efficiency assessment, environmental impacts are evaluated using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as prescribed by other International Standards (ISO 14040, ISO 14044). Consequently, eco-efficiency assessment shares with LCA many important principles such as life cycle perspective, comprehensiveness, functional unit approach, iterative nature, transparency, and priority of a scientific approach.
ISO 14045 guidelines:
- Establish clear terminology and a common methodological framework for eco-efficiency assessment
- Enable the practical use of eco-efficiency assessment for a wide range of product (including service) systems
- Provide clear guidance on the interpretation of eco-efficiency assessment results
- Encourage the transparent, accurate and informative reporting of eco-efficiency assessment results
ISO 14045 guidelines are a step towards a more responsible approach to production. This helps organizations to become more environmentally conscious in their activities.
