Editing Efficiency (section)

{{Short description|Degree to which a process minimizes waste of resources}}
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{{Distinguish|Effectiveness|Efficacy}}
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{{use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
'''Efficiency''' is the often measurable ability to avoid making [[Error|mistakes]] or wasting [[material]]s, energy, efforts, money, and time while performing a task. In a more general sense, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without waste. 

In more mathematical or scientific terms, it signifies the level of performance that uses the least amount of inputs to achieve the highest amount of output. It often specifically comprises the capability of a specific application of effort to produce a specific outcome with a minimum amount or quantity of waste, expense, or unnecessary effort.<ref name="SicklesZelenyuk">Sickles, R., and Zelenyuk, V. (2019). "[https://assets.cambridge.org/97811070/36161/frontmatter/9781107036161_frontmatter.pdf Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice]". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{doi|10.1017/9781139565981}}.</ref> Efficiency refers to very different inputs and outputs in different fields and industries. In 2019, the [[European Commission]] said: "Resource efficiency means using the Earth's limited resources in a sustainable procent manner while minimising impacts on the environment. It allows us to create more with less and to deliver greater value with less input."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haie |first=Naim |chapter=Sefficiency (Sustainable Efficiency) |date=2021 |title=Transparent Water Management Theory |series=Water Resources Development and Management |pages=39–69 |doi=10.1007/978-981-15-6284-6_4 |pmc=7305767|isbn=978-981-15-6283-9 }}</ref>

Writer Deborah Stone notes that efficiency is "not a goal in itself. It is not something we want for its own sake, but rather because it helps us attain more of the things we value."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stone|first=Deborah|title=Policy paradox: the art of political decision making|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company Inc.|year=2012|location=New York}}</ref>