Brand owner: Panasonic Corporation
Head office: Osaka, Japan
Sector: Electronics
Categories : Televisions, TV's, Audio, Video, (Mobile) Phones, Cameras, Camcorders, Home Appliances
Free Tags: Refrigerator
| 1. Does the brand (company) clearly support global mandatory cuts of carbon emissions of at least 50% by 2050 or 30% by industrialized countries by 2020? |
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Panasonic states that it generally supports the directions of target setting. | Source |
| 2. Has the brand (company) disclosed the annual carbon footprint of its 'own operations' and of the supply / production chain? |
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Panasonic reports its total Greenhouse Gas emissions on an annual basis. | Source |
| 3. Has the brand (company) set a target to reduce its ‘own operations’ carbon footprint by at least 20% within the next 5 years? |
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Panasonic set targets to reduce its CO2 emissions from productions from 4,000,000 tons in 2007 to 3,7000,000 in 2010. In actual fact Panasonic has reduced is emissions to 3,140,000 in 2010 equating to 21.5% reduction (see page 21 of 2010 report and page 60 of 2009). | Source |
| 4. Has the brand (company) already reduced or compensated its 'own operations' carbon footprint by at least 10% in the last 5 years? |
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See remark for climate change question 3. | Source |
| 5. Do all new products of the brand meet the latest Energy Star requirements (where applicable)? |
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100% of the Panasonic products meet and exceed the Energy Star requirements. | Source |
| 1. Has the brand (company) eliminated PVC and BFRs in all new products? If not, does the brand give a timeline for achieving this by 2012? |
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Panasonic has a clear timeline to phase out PVC (2011) and already has various models that are PVC and BFR free. It intends to eliminate BFR from all new computers by 2012. | Source |
| 2. Has the brand (company) already eliminated PVC and BFRs in all new products? |
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See above answer for explanation. | Source |
| 3. Has the brand (company) already eliminated at least 2 of the 3 groups of suspect chemicals (beryllium, antimony and phthalates) in all of its new products? If not, does it give a timeline for achieving this by 2012? |
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No timeline to phase out these substances are found on Panasonic website. | Source |
| 4. Has the brand (company) already eliminated at least 2 of the 3 groups of suspect chemicals (beryllium, antimony and phthalates)in all of its new products? |
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No timeline to phase out these substances are found on Panasonic website. Beryllium is the only substance that is banned from use by Panasonic. | Source |
| 5. Does the brand (company) support the principle of Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR), meaning that brands are responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their own products, including take back and recycling? |
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Panasonic supports the IPR concept. | Source |
| 6. Does the brand (company) provide free and easy take back and recycling services for its discarded products in many of the countries where its products are sold? |
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The voluntary take back programmes are not worldwide and do not cover all Panasonic's product groups. More programmes have been initiated but it is unclear how significant they are. Eco Ideas Report, p.25 Page and Panasonic's website. | Source |
| 7. Does the brand (company) source at least 5% of its plastics from recycled plastic streams and does it give a clear timeline to increase this percentage to at least 25% by 2025? |
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Panasonic provides only the recycled plastic rate for its washing machines and refrigerators; this being 3,759 tons or 13.8% of all plastics used in these products. | Source |
| 1. Does the brand (company) have a policy that excludes smelters of conflict minerals by only sourcing minerals from conflict free areas or by only sourcing minerals from conflict areas when human rights are respected and where contributing to conflict is avoided? |
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Panasonic participates in a pilot on implementing the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas and started "requesting its primary component and material suppliers to verify the sources of minerals", but does not provide a clear policy that excludes suppliers of conflict minerals. | Source |
| 2. Does the brand (company) have a Code of Conduct (CoC) for both its own factories and those of its suppliers, which includes the following standards: No forced or slave labor, no child labor, no discrimination of any kind and a safe and hygienic workplace? |
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Panasonic has a Clean Procurement Declaration and states its expectations from its suppliers. However these standards are not fully enforced as Panasonic states "we strongly ask our suppliers to meet the following CSR requirements". | Source |
| 3. Does the brand’s (company’s) CoC include at least 3 of the following workers rights: 1. a formally registered employment relationship 2. a maximum working week of 48 hours with voluntary paid overtime of 12 hours maximum 3. a sufficient living wage 4. form and join labor unions and bargain collectively; and in those situations where these rights are restricted under law, to develop parallel means? |
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See remark for labor conditions question 2. | Source |
| 4. Does the brand (company) have a published list of direct suppliers that have collectively contributed to more than 90% of the purchase volume? |
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Panasonic does not provide any information about its suppliers on its website. | Source |
| 5. Is the brand (company) a member of a multi stakeholder initiative (MSI), wherein independent NGO’s or labor unions are represented, that collectively aims to improve labor conditions and that carries out independent audits? Or does the brand (company) significantly purchase its supplies from factories certified by such MSI’s? |
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Panasonic does not mention being a member of a collective initiative that aims to improve labor conditions on its website. | Source |
| 6. Does the brand (company) annually report on the results of its labor conditions policy? |
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Panasonic does not publicly report outcomes or results of its policies to improve labor conditions at its suppliers. | Source |
| 7. Has the brand’s labor conditions policy resulted in a ‘compliance level’ of at least 30% of the purchase volume, or a ‘monitored level' of at least 80%? |
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See remark for labor conditions question 6. | Source |