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Panasonic – Sustainability as a driving force
The Panasonic brand was created in 1955 by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. for their market in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The Japanese electric products manufacturer uses this trademark as the brand “National,” which is used in Japan, had already been registered in international markets.
Panasonic
The label stems from the word “pan,” meaning “all” and the word “sonic,” which needless to say, means “sound.” The brand name fit for initially, the company was solely marketing audio equipment. Under this label Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. markets DVD recorders and players, Blu-ray Disc players, telephones, plasma and LCD display panels, shavers, microwave ovens, batteries, camcorders, laptop computers (under the Toughbook sub-brand), electronic components and semiconductors, projectors, digital cameras, and portable CDs. All of these are marketed under the slogan “Ideas for Life.” Other brands under Panasonic include the Limux digital cameras and the Viera TV sets.
In the 2004 electronic sales report, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. was recorded as the largest Japanese provider, with Hitachi trailing a spot behind.
Key people:
• Fumio Ohtsubo – President
• Kunio Nakamura – Chairman of the Board
• Masayuki Matsushita – Vice Chairman of the Board
• Takami Sano – Executive Vice President
Definitely, Panasonic is one corporate entity that has sustainability as its driving force. Its founder, Konosuke Matsushita, had this belief of putting people before products. Panasonic also commits to pollution prevention, sustained improvement of their Environmental Management System, and compliance to environmental laws and regulations.
In addition, the driving precepts of the Matsushita Group Companies are to protect the ozone layer, reduce industrial waste, prevent global warming and practice Environmental Product Evaluation and Assessment.
The company’s Environmental Management System (EMS) has been certified by Underwriters Laboratories Inc. to be ISO 14001 compliant. According to the company, the core elements of an EMS are:
1. “Requires adoption of an environmental policy
2. Requires organization to identify environmental aspects and impacts
3. Sets objectives and targets
4. Requires numerous separate procedures or programs
5. Requires a commitment to comply with legal requirements
6. Does not set any new emission standards or limits”
Since 1996, Panasonic has already registered all its manufacturing facilities along with all their major non-manufacturing ones. Of these, 256 are registered to ISO 14001.
As of this writing, Panasonic Corporation of North America’s (PNA) major focus is to minimize energy use and increase recycling. Its minor focus is to “improve end of life consumer electronics recycling in the US.” One of the measures they have implemented to follow these precepts is to support the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC); the company pays a License Recycling Fee for each Panasonic battery that they sell. This support has enabled RBRC to recycle nearly 5 million pounds of rechargeable batteries in the U.S. and Canada in 2005. During the initial six months of 2006, the recycling corporation has gathered 2.4 million pounds.
Panasonic has also been monitoring its products and their impact on the environment. Their individual designs have all been based on analyses of the products’ entire life cycles. Assessment begins at the most basic levels of the design process. Several aspects of a product are closely studied, including:
• Energy consumption
• Use of chemicals
• Recyclability
• Use of recycled content
After this assessment the company then grades their products according to their environmental footprints.
In light of all this, Panasonic has initiated drives to eliminate/reduce the following from their products:
• Lead – Although this element is severely detrimental to health if enough of it is accumulated in one’s body, it is a necessary component in solders, which are used to connect electrical components in a printed circuit boards (PCBs). Panasonic was the first company to mass produce lead-free solder in 1998. It has planned to eliminate lead in all of its product lines in 2003.
• Halogenated Plastics – These release toxic gases when incinerated. Panasonic has been coordinating with other manufacturers to design wires and plastic that do not contain halogenated compounds and as early as 1999, produced the first ever widescreen TV that had 0 halogenated compounds in its wires, printed wiring boards, and casing.
• Plastic Resins – The use of these have presented difficulties in recycling waste electronics. Panasonic has reduced its usage of these.
These initiatives have placed Panasonic in the forefront of ecologically friendly companies that have practiced processes that are sustainable and safe for both consumers and the environment.
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