Sustainability: a new paradigm for industrial production

Briefly discusses the industrial development process in Brazil by highlighting a few examples of its social and environmental implications. The current environmental crisis for which the industrial sector is co‐responsible puts evidence on the existing links between production and consumption cycles. In order to identify impacts at their origin, production processes and products need to be re‐assessed. Proposes a paradigm shift with the corporate world internalising the sustainability concept based on dematerialisation (tendency to use less material and energy inputs per unit of output) and eco‐efficiency (strategy to provide goods and services while continuously reducing ecological impacts).