Panasonic moves up one place to 13th position, although its score has not changed since the last ranking.
Panasonic provides a large and growing list of products that are free of PVC, including DVD players and recorders, home cinemas, and video players. It has also added two models of lighting equipment free of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and is manufacturing halogen-free printed wiring boards for certain applications and markets. Panasonic has committed to eliminating all uses of PVC in its products – starting with internal wiring – and has set a timeline of 2011 for eliminating PVC from its notebooks. But on BFRs, the company has yet to commit to their elimination in all products, although a timeline of 2011 has been set for ending use of BFRs in notebooks and mobiles – a fraction of Panasonic’s large product range.
Panasonic scores poorly for its lack of support for Individual Producer Responsibility and its limited voluntary takeback programs. Panasonic has yet to report on its recycling rate as a percentage of past sales.
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