Panasonic drops from 13th position to joint 15th, having lost a point on its reporting of its recycling rate, which is not presented as a percentage of past sales; its score on the other criteria has not changed since the last ranking.
Panasonic provides a large and growing list of products on the market that are free of PVC, which include DVD players and recorders, home cinemas, and video players. It also has 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 getting PVC out of its notebooks. The company has yet to commit to the elimination of BFRs in all products, although a timeline of 2011 has been set for getting BFRs out of notebooks and cell phones – these represent a small fraction of Panasonic’s large product range.
Panasonic scores poorly for its lack of support for Individual Producer Responsibility and its limited voluntary take-back programs.
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