European Recycling Initiative Planned

Panasonic, Thomson, and JVC have agreed to establish a European recycling initiative to take back electronic equipment.

Panasonic, Thomson and JVC announced today a cooperation agreement to establish a recycling scheme for the electronics and electrical equipment industries, in compliance with the requirements of theEU Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).

According to a statement released by the companies, the cooperation agreement partners will establish such a recycling scheme in each Member State of the EU when industry or sector related collective schemes are not feasible or not cost competitive. They will also supervise the entire recycling operations where necessary and invite other manufacturers and recyclers to join the scheme.

Initially, the main focus will be on solutions for the German market, but the recycling scheme may be extended to other EU countries, taking into account local conditions.

The cooperation agreement will cover the WEEE categories, e.g. consumer electronics, communications and IT products, etc, as well as other categories including white goods. This collaboration may be further developed, as it will remain open to other partners within these and other sectors, in order to reinforce the impact and cost efficiency of the recycling scheme.

The cooperation agreement aims to improve pollution prevention (through waste reduction, reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery) and increase the economic and environmental efficiency (through economies of scale) of the recycling scheme. This cooperation testifies to the three companies’ commitment to contribute to sustainable development.