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Managing the lifecycle
Pressure is now on for manufactures to consider the environment in all their processes, from concept through to end-of-life decommissioning and recycling. Panasonic is committed to achieving stringent eco performance, but this benefits business too, as Tony Nielsen, UK marketing manager explains.
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sustainable approach to product life-cycle can benefit the environment and deliver business advantages too. Manufacturers are now having to review their processes during all stages of bringing a product to market, including: The design phase: covering procurement when choosing materials, where they are sourced and their future impact
Production: from energy use, as well as the potential environmental impact of product operations (during manufacture and when in use by customers)
Packaging and logistics: covering the entire chain from when products are packaged and dispatched to distributors, contractors and end users
And of course, WEEE legislation, ensures end-of-life must be considered: materials, composite parts, including the energy used to manufacture, during its life and how each component can be recycled and reused.
All the above need be considered in addition to how the products will be interoperable with the latest
technologies and other systems currently present.
One of the key benefits of manufacturers being more sustainable is that they are often more efficient, competitive and profitable in the long-term. A study was recently conducted by consultancy, McKinsey, involving 40 companies, to help understand sustainability and “to capture value from sustainability.” The study revealed that “companies with high ratings in environmental, social, and governance factors outperformed the market in medium and long-range terms.”
Panasonic is one such manufacturer, with a strong commitment to the environment and ensuring a sustainable approach to all products manufactured. In fact, the company has, for many years set itself apart from its competitors and is well-known for having strong environmental policies in place, and being at the forefront of many such initiatives.
In June 2017, during World Environment Day, Panasonic announced its new Environment Vision for 2050. The Panasonic Environment Vision 2050 was
created to help work towards “the creation of more efficient utilisation of energy which exceeds the amount of energy used, aiming for a society with clean energy and a more comfortable lifestyle. Through these efforts, Panasonic will endeavour to make the ‘energy created’ exceed the ‘energy used’ towards the year 2050.”
Back in 2001, Panasonic established a high-tech recycling centre, Panasonic Eco Technology Centre (PETEC) in Japan. The centre recycles a variety of electrical products (both Panasonic and non- Panasonic brands) such as TVs, washing machines, refrigerators and air conditioning units.
Today, PETEC recycles around 700,000 products a year. The materials recycled are used to make new products and its experience is helping to develop better recycling technologies for the future. Responsible recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment – or WEEE, for short – has become a major environmental goal for many across the globe. So much so, that in 2003, the EU put laws in place to ensure such products are recycled and not sent straight to landfill sites.
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