The service sector contribution to the economy of western countries has increased notably over recent decades, reaching values close to 70% of GDP, and therefore presenting a great and global environmental relevance.
In this context, the objectives of the service sector ecology are:
- To study the metabolism and environmental performance (energy and water consumption, waste production, etc..) associated to economic activities not included in the category "agriculture" and "industry" in the National Accounting Systems.
- Determine the degree of dematerialization of the tertiary sector and each of the different activities that are included in it.
- Sort the service sector categories according to its more or less intense use of natural resources and waste generation.
- Identify the possible symbiosis between service facilities.
The Service sector ecology analyses the service facilities at two levels:
- Isolated analysis of each facility.
- Integrated analysis of service systems: identification of possible interrelationships between the different facilities in order to optimize the use of resources.