It's important to make each and every product energy-efficient since it's essential to spend convenient and comfortable lives. For example, approx. 1.76 million tons of CO2 would be cut just by replacing an incandescent lamp with a bulb-shaped fluorescent lamp at all Japanese households.
Making your lifestyle ecological by a small idea without giving up your modern life.
We have been producing the most energy-efficient products above industry's averages. To accelerate its product development, Panasonic will contribute to the spread of environmentally-conscious products products by increasing the No.1 energy-efficiency products.
As a manufacturing company, we can't ignore CO2 emissions from manufacturing processes.
We are not only producing energy-efficient products, but also reducing as much energy and resource utilization as possible. All sites promoting activities to reduce CO2 emissions, such as improvement of manufacturing processes and introduction of energy-saving equipment.
![[fig.] Global CO2 Emissions from 294 manufacturing sites](img/pic_02_02.gif)
From product planning to manufacturing at factories, sales and recycling, Panasonic Group as a whole is taking environmental initiatives.
We are actively working on CO2 reduction especially by heightening productivity of manufacturing processes.
We committed ourselves to cut our CO2 emissions from 294 manufacturing sites all over the world by 300,000 tons by fiscal year 2010 (starting on Apr. 1st 2009 and ending on Mar. 31st 2010).
Without regarding environmental problems as critical issues for you, no one can develop a real environmentally-conscious product.
To act as environmentally-conscious citizens not only at work places but also at home and in local communities, each and every one of us should start eco activities as well as having a slogan for their works.
A small idea under this concept gradually taking off not only in Japan, but all over the world.
![[photo]](img/fig_03_01.jpg)
We have been taking Love the Earth Citizens' Campaign initiative to support employees to promote environmentally-conscious lifestyles since 1998.
In July 2007, we implemented ‘Japan-China CO2 Reduction 100,000-people Eco Challenge’ Campaign. Approx. 130,000 employees in Japan and China worked on CO2 reduction activities for one week, and reduced about 180 tons of CO2.
We expect our employees' and their families's eco activities influence communities, neighbors and corporate activities, which as a result leads to a big change of the whole society.
‘eco ideas’
The Yellow Sea Ecoregion Support Project hosted by WWF is a project to protect oceanic bio-diversity and communities' lives in coastal areas. We decided to participate in the activity for 7 years as a Corporate Supporter of WWF.
We promote environmental protection activities jointly with WWF not only by sponsoring the Project, but by discussing Panasonic's procurement policy for paper and printings.
Panasonic Group is pursuing energy-saving, energy-creation, and user-friendliness under the slogans of ‘Eco: Living in harmony with the global environment’ and ‘UD: Universal design.’
Assuming a lifestyle for 2010, Eco & UD House embodies environmentally-conscious lifestyle for an entire house by using energy-creation technologies, such as Fuel Cell Cogeneration System and Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS).
At 8pm everyday, neon advertising signboards are turned off at Panasonic Group's facilities in Japan. Since 2005, we have been reducing approx. 1640 tons of CO2 by Lights-out Campaign for contributing to global warming prevention. For neon signboards of public facilities, we are reducing power consumption by switching illumination to LED lights, which achieved CO2 reduction by 30 tons.
Panasonic Group is opening manufacturing sites to the public so that stakeholder get familiar with our environmental activities.
Aiming for open factory living in harmony with communities, we have named Kusatsu factory in Shiga prefecture, Japan ‘eco ideas’ Factory Biwako as a model site, and we are now preparing for various initiatives.
We will expand this activity to other sites.
We are aiming for harmony of humans, the nature, and industries. Our employees and other participants are working on tree-planting contributing to the forest protection and community greening, and these activities are spreading widely.
We also pouring efforts for the utilization of used and wasted materials and child education.
![[fig.] Amount of CO2 emissions when transporting 1 ton of freight by 1km: Amount of CO2 176g-CO2/ton·km Trucks, Amount of CO2 22g-CO2/ton·km Railways](img/fig_04_06_01.gif)
We are promoting Modal Transportation Shift to mitigate environmental impacts.
By switching to railway from trucks, CO2 emissions are reduced to one-eighth.
We are facing difficulty to promote this initiative because the number of products we can transport by railway are decreasing, but we are trying to cut CO2 emissions from logistics by introducing "eco cars", such as hybrid trucks.
Panasonic Eco Technology Center (PETEC) was established to accelerate developments of recycling technologies aiming for high purity and efficiency in the processes as well as recycling itself obliged under the Japanese Law for Recycling of Specified Kinds of Home Appliances.
Based on the "From Product to Product" concept, PETEC is working on material recycling and pursuing 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) To realize zero emissions.
PETEC offers information to support development of Panasonic Group's products.
![[fig.] Refining wasted cooking oil and using to fuel diesel trucks](img/description_04_08_02.gif){kind=small}
A small project has been proceeding in canteens in Shiga prefecture, Japan, which is an attempt that waste cooking oil is refined and converted in to Biodiesel used to fuel trucks.
By reusing oil previously discarded, we can utilize resource effectively and restrain CO2 emissions at the same time.
As part of Green Logistics policy to reduce CO2 emissions when transporting products and components, we activity take Biodiesel fuel initiative, and collected and reused 32,300 liters of used cooking oil from 18 sites of 16 companies in FY2007.
