Glenn Chapman, Yahoo News 12 Jan 08;
Electronics titans at the world's largest consumer electronics trade show united to combat "e-waste" as the deadline nears for US residents to replace analog televisions with digital models.
Mountains of old television sets are expected to be discarded in the gargantuan US electronics market due to a government-imposed shift to digital television broadcasting in 2009.
The looming deadline and a drive to show that gadgets don't have to harm nature inspired Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba to form the Electronics Manufacturers Recycling Management Company (EMRM).
"We at Panasonic are very concerned that the US is only a year away from transition to all-digital TV," Yoshi Yamada, chairman of Panasonic of North American, said at the Consumer Electronics Show that ended Thursday.
"Forming a company to recycle is the best way to develop economies of scale and create a usable and sustainable recycling system for electronics. EMRM has tremendous potential to make a substantial difference."
Panasonic heads the joint venture, which will manage recycling programs in the United States.
"We have a responsibility of dealing with end-of-life analog electronics," said Panasonic chief operating officer Joseph Taylor.
EMRM claims agreements with more than a slew of electronics makers including Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Philips, Sanyo and Pioneer.
The joint venture will start with programs that meet "take-back" laws requiring companies that sell gear to help recycle the stuff.
The announcement came as CES proclaimed a "green" theme for the first time in the 40-year-old annual event's history.
Non-toxic batteries activated with water and cars powered by electricity or other non-oil-based "flexfuels," were among Earth-friendly offerings showcased.
CES conferences included seminars devoted to making energy-efficient gadgets, using non-hazardous materials, and "keeping electronics off the curb" by extending life cycles and easing recycling.
CES featured for the first time a "Sustainable TechZone" dedicated to "pioneering technologies that benefit the environment and sustainability of the global economy."
Innovations in the TechZone include voltaic solar-power generating backpacks made from recycled plastic soda bottles.
Firms specializing in automating homes touted computerized systems that reduce the amount of energy wasted in cooling, heating or lighting residences or by televisions and other entertainment electronics.
"The smart-home ecosystem is good for the world's ecosystem," a CES organizer maintained.
CES organizers arranged with Carbonfund.org to offset the estimated 20,000 tons of carbon attributable to CES.
Carbonfund will do so by investing in renewable energy, reforestation, and energy conservation programs, according to CEA.
