Green Products - Reducing Chemical Substances

• Major products for which the use of PVC resin was discontinued

With regard to PVC resin, concerns have been raised about the potential generation of hazardous substances if the waste material is disposed of incorrectly. These concerns relate to the potential harmful effects of a specific additive (phthalate ester) used to soften the resin. Panasonic has substituted this PVC resin with alternative materials in several of its products. In fiscal 2007, we expanded our targets and substituted a total of 616 tons of PVC resin (5% of total amount of use in new products), mainly in new products in the field of AVC networks and in those made by Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. Furthermore, we have established internal milestones towards the discontinued use of PVC resin, and identified some specific deadlines. In particular, acknowledging the fact that the inability to isolate internal PVC wiring in waste electronic devices can restrict recycling, we will discontinue the use of PVC resin in internal wiring for all new products in April 2009 in Japan and in 2011 outside Japan. Also, with regard to the use of PVC resin in parts other than internal wiring (such as power supply cords), we will develop substitute technologies and examine quality issues so that we can gradually discontinue use of this resin.

[Related Data File]

• Basic policy for managing chemical substances in products
• Promoting non-use of specified chemical substances globally
• Developing the world’s first lead-free plasma display panel
• Collecting and managing data on chemical substances from suppliers across the world