Living in Harmony with the Global Environment

Turning CSR issues into an opportunity for innovation

Sugimoto: Konosuke Matsushita also talked about environmental issues: The company does not exist solely to make money. The company should help society by contributing to protecting the environment. Surely in Europe, the environment is one of the most importantissues, right?

Born: It's top of the agenda at the moment all over the world - climate change and reduction of green house gases (GHG). In this regard, Panasonic has been striving to mainstream CSR, and I was very impressed that Panasonic integrated the goal of reducing CO₂ emissions into the management strategy along with increasing sales and profits.

Ohtsubo: It is not easy for us to reduce CO₂ emissions while maintaining growth. However, we place great importance on living in harmony with the global environment. Our founder always said that if Panasonic could not harmonize with and contribute to society, we should dissolve the company immediately. We aim to live in harmony with the global environment, not because society demands it but because we believe that we have to. Therefore, we announced that we would decrease our CO₂ emissions by 300,000 tons globally by fiscal 2010, and we clearly stated that we would include our progress toward this goal as part of an evaluation of each business domain company. We are proud of excellent environmental technologies developed in Japan. However, we are not just talking about it; we are setting a clear target.

Born: Some companies see GHG emissions reduction as a constraint, but Panasonic sees it as an opportunity to innovate.

Ohtsubo: Yes. We will also try to replace all the products that have been designated by a third-party organization as low-energy-efficient products by the end of fiscal 2010.

Born: That is taking CSR one step further.

Ohtsubo: Now we are seeing the coming of the "Ecopremium Era," an era in which an eco-friendly activity will become a new business opportunity.

Sugimoto: You also visited the Matsushita Eco Technology Center (METEC) in Hyogo.

At METEC (now Panasonic Eco Technology Center Co.,Ltd), used products are recycled and reused in new products.

Born: I was impressed by the innovative recycling system. Everything is collected in one place and disassembled, and the parts are used to make new products.

Ohtsubo: Last October, when we announced the reduction of 300,000 tons of CO₂ emissions, one European journalist asked me, "I've heard that METEC in fact made a profit. So, why don't you tell people that recycling is a profitable business?" And I replied, "I don't expect the recycling business to be consistently profitable. METEC's aim is to work out how to recycle used products, not to make a profit."

Born: I see, but if the recycling business is profitable, that would be an attractive model for other companies. It means recycling won't necessarily be part of the cost of production.

Ohtsubo: METEC aims to develop new technology for recycling. If METEC makes a profit, we will reinvest it in the development of new technology. This is our approach.

Note :
This dialogue was held in April 2008. The organization and other names were those effective at the time The Panasonic Report for Sustainability was released. Please note that some of the names previously used differ from the current names.