(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| NEC to Feature Ecology Symbol Marks for PC Products
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January 26, 1999 (TOKYO) -- NEC Corp. said it is implementing an environmentally
friendly product development system and is preparing to affix ecology
symbol marks on many of its PC packages and manuals.
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Under this system, NEC will place its "Eco Symbol" sticker on the packages
and manuals of its products that meet certain conditions and standards.
Also, the company will disclose the names of the materials used for
plastics, details about power consumption and percentages of recyclable
material in each product on its Web site.
Initially, the Eco Symbol will be placed on packages and manuals of all
PCs produced for the spring sales season, and detailed information is
to be disclosed at "98
Information," NEC's PC information Web site (in Japanese).
The computer maker plans to gradually broaden the use of the Eco Symbol
to PC peripheral devices such as printers, communications-related products
such as facsimile machines and mobile phones, as well as servers and
mainframe computers.
To qualify for the Eco Symbol, products must satisfy the nine points
common to all products as well as items set for specific products. The
assessments are expected to be done by the Ecology Product Promotion
Committee, an environmental management/measures group established within
NEC.
NEC said that items for assessment are considered in view of: (1) global
warming prevention measures; (2) energy/resource savings and promotion
of recycling; and (3) control of use of toxic compounds.
As concerns PCs, for example, they are required to use less power, to
help prevent global warming. To achieve this goal, the energy consumption
levels in stand-by modes will be reduced.
As for conserving resources and recycling, conditions include utilizing
recycled plastic and magnesium alloy, used and recycled paper, and making
products that are easy to disassemble. Also, products sold to businesses
should be returned after their use is completed, and the parts recycled,
NEC said.
Polyvinyl chloride for containers and mercury cells/nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd)
batteries will not be used, to advance NEC's goal of controlling potentially
harmful materials.
The first products to carry the Eco Symbol mark are PCs equipped with
a liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor. The symbol mark is expected
to be printed on packages and user manuals as well as on posters to
be displayed at stores. To facilitate recycling, no symbol mark stickers
will be placed on the actual products.
Related stories:
� NEC Introduces Environmental Efficiency into
Products
� Gov't Formulating Guidelines For Environmentally
Friendly PCs
(BizTech News Dept.)
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