Panasonic Announces Nationwide TV And Consumer Electronics Recycling Program

Goal is Simple, Safe Recycling of Used Electronics [The following is a release from Panasonic]

November 3, 2008

Panasonic Corporation of North America, a market leader in electronics innovation and technology, announced today that it is creating a nationwide program designed to provide consumers convenient and easy recycling of their Panasonic branded TVs and other consumer electronics.[1] Consumers can drop off their Panasonic products free of charge. “The focus of Panasonic’s new program will be on consumer convenience and environmentally sound recycling,” said Yoshi Yamada, Chairman and CEO of Panasonic Corporation of North America. “The new national program both gives life to our customers’ recycling expectations and embodies our company’s commitment to responsible product lifecycle management.” To implement this program, Panasonic will work in a collaborative effort with other manufacturers. Day-to-day management of the program will be contracted to Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company, LLC (“MRM”), a joint venture established in 2007, by Panasonic Corporation of North America, Sharp Electronics Corporation and Toshiba America Consumer Products, LLC. The venture was created to address America’s e-waste recycling needs most efficiently by bringing the electronic product manufacturing community together into a unified voluntary effort. The Panasonic program will begin on November 1, 2008, with more than 160 recycling drop-off locations in 10 states, and is slated to expand to all 50 states, with hundreds more sites, over the next three years. For a list of current states and sites see www.MRMrecycling.com. Additional details on the program’s expansion will be announced in January 2009. Panasonic also announced the creation of a new Recycling Office within the company’s Corporate Environmental Department. The new office will have responsibility for this program, and will be headed by Richard Vernam, Recycling Group Manager. “The Panasonic program will help to move end-of-life consumer electronics out of the common waste stream and into a separate and environmentally responsible recycling stream,” said Mr. Vernam. The new office will work with MRM and its network of public and private recyclers, communities, governments, charities and other organizations committed to safe electronics recycling. It will leverage the efficiencies that come from MRM’s ability to bring together multiple manufacturers’ recycling programs into one common system. As a result, Panasonic will enable consumers, as they choose new electronics products to enhance their lives, to recycle their used Panasonic products safely and easily. Panasonic has worked over the last two years to test various product recycling mechanisms in several states and localities, through dozens of voluntary recycling events, and with a number of established recyclers. With years of leadership in developing and promoting national recycling programs for such products as rechargeable batteries, laptop PCs, and most recently consumer cordless phones, Panasonic expects to contribute its expertise, along with that of others, to accelerate MRM’s implementation and ensure its success. By continuing to work with environmental stakeholders, Panasonic’s new Recycling Office expects to increase public awareness of the convenience, ease and reliability of its electronics recycling program in the U.S. In fact, promoting employee and public awareness of environmental responsibility is one central element of Panasonic’s worldwide environmental initiatives. Other key elements include company pledges to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 300,000 tons by 2010 (that is, to the levels of the year 2000, despite growth in production, employment and overall activities), and to introduce products which are easier to recycle and increasingly more energy efficient. These actions are part of Panasonic’s ongoing, global Eco Ideas campaign to help achieve an environmentally sustainable future.

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