Global environmental protection technologies in the Matsushita electric group (Panasonic)

摘要

As we approach the 21st century, achieving "Harmony with the Global Environment" has become one of the most urgent challenges facing humankind. With the aim of developing a "recycling-oriented society," we need to achieve an optimal balancebetween production and recycling. This means we need to strive for an appropriate level of consumption, minimization of waste, increased recycling, energy conservation, and longer product service life. In bringing the concept of a "recycling-orientedsociety" to fruition, we at Panasonic believe "science and technology" will play a key role, and are thus working very hard to develop environmentally responsible technologies and incorporate them into our products and manufacturing processes.Our parent company, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., has been a leader in the development of the concept of "Green Products," including the concept of "totally-recyclable products." These concepts are currently being given priority throughout the Panasonic Group companies. Panasonic is addressing the environmental attributes and performance of its products at every stage in the product life cycle, ranging from fundamental design, through purchasing, production, disassembly and separation, torecycling. We have dedicated considerable resources to the development of products featuring environmentally-responsible performance and quality, as well as improved basic quality and performance. Panasonic is also an industry pioneer in developingrecycling technologies for after-use products.This paper provides an overview of our environmental protection technologies for the development of Green Products, followed by the case study of a new television design.