Panasonic exceeds sustainability targets

Panasonic on June 16 announced that it not only achieved, but exceeded its “eco ideas” targets set for October 2008 through to March 2010. The “eco ideas” declaration from Panasonic focuses on three core areas: “eco ideas” for Products, “eco ideas” for Everybody and Everywhere, and “eco ideas” for Manufacturing. The targets for each facet of Panasonic's business are helping to achieve Panasonic's aim to become the number one green innovation company in the electronics industry by 2018.

Highlights from the results of the 2009 sustainability targets include:

• “eco ideas” for Products: Twenty of Panasonic's product categories achieved Panasonic's top class environmental performance status of 'Superior Green Product'. Products from these categories that received the ranking included: Panasonic's SC-PT480 DVD Home Cinema System, the DMR-EX83 DVD HD Recorder, the NA-147VB2 Washing Machine and the DMC-FP1/FP2 Digital Still Camera. These products, among many others, received a superior green rating due to their low power consumption.
• “eco ideas” for Everybody and Everywhere: Panasonic Europe initiated more than 40 eco-related activities and gained participation from more than 3,000 Panasonic employees. Activities that employees participated in included: tree planting with an estimated 12,645 trees planted, adoption of endangered animals, sponsorship of the Catlin Arctic survey and participation in the WWF's Earth Hour event by all of Panasonic's European offices and support for WWF's work in the Arctic.
• “eco ideas” for Manufacturing: Panasonic has reduced its CO2 emissions by 21.4 thousand tonnes by the end of FY 2009 in its European manufacturing operations. The aim of Panasonic for 2009 was to reduce its CO2 emissions by 10 percent or 6,000 tonnes but it exceeded this and achieved a reduction of 34 percent.

"I am very proud that we have met all of our targets for 2009 and, in some areas, even exceeded them. We have managed to do this by ensuring that environmental management is core to everything across our business, from R&D, to supply chain and finished products, right through to the activities that we encourage our employees to engage in," said Laurent Abadie, chairman and CEO, Panasonic Europe. "However, we must not, and will not get complacent. We still have more to achieve and, through building on this success, we will focus on achieving more in the coming years. Our goals for the next three years have our commitment to environmental management at their core and aim to drive sustainability across society, from businesses to homes," said Abadie.

The new action plan, which is part of Panasonic Group's midterm business management plan for the next three years, will see the company pursue environmental management in two areas – “eco ideas” for Lifestyles and “eco ideas” for Business-styles. “eco ideas” for Lifestyles looks into promoting sustainable living; and “eco ideas” for Business-styles focuses on reducing the environmental impact of business operations with more concrete and tangible examples to follow in the course of this year.

Panasonic's eco business efforts are recognized on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes and the FTSE4Good index by the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange.

About Panasonic
Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of 7.42 trillion yen (EUR 56.6 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2010.