Ecoservices is the collective term for a variety of innovative approaches aimed at the reduction of environmental impacts of products. In their ideal form ecoservices offer many advantages and people have high expectations at what they can contribute towards sustainable development. The research project "Ecoservices for sustainability in the European union" was concentrated on the question if ecoservices do contribute to sustainable development and under what conditions. The result of the study clearly shows that the expectations for ecoservices raised in the current discussion are often to optimistic and are in need of adjustment.

In four countries (Spain, The Netherlands, Germany and Austria) 6 case studies were carries out in order to compare the environmental load of ecoservices and owned products: car pooling, washing, heating, ICT supporting and do it yourself. The case studies illustrate that there is definitely no evidence that services in general have a better environmental performance than products. The ecological benefits depend to a large degree on the frame work condition. Hiring and pooling concepts for instance allow a more intensive use, but the ecological benefits can be undone by opposing effects for instance caused by extra transportation of the customer.

The conclusion is that there is a clear distinction between services and ecoservices, comparable with the distinction between products and ecoproducts. Current consumer preferences can hinder a reorientation from products towards services. Nevertheless the study indicates that in specific markets ecoservices do offer a large range of often hardly recognised potential for environmental relief. This potential will de discussed in the paper.

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Last updated: 13 November, 2008