Environment: Reincarnation of the machines

Aniza Damis

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When a human dies, the only thing that lives on is his deeds. And his organs, if he had donated them. But can there be life after death for household appliances? ANIZA DAMIS visits the Panasonic Eco Technology Centre in Kato City, Japan, and finds there is meaning in death, even for machines

WHERE do old television sets go to die?

Now that you’ve bought that longed-for plasma TV, what do you do with the old set that’s served you so well all through university and your first home?

In Japan, thanks to a sensible government environmental law, they don’t just die; they are reincarnated.

Old cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs are taken into a recycling centre and taken apart. Their CRT glass is recovered and sold to countries that still make such TVs.

Other parts are salvaged and reused in the manufacturing of other electrical and non-electrical products.

The end result: More than 80 per cent of the TV comes back to life in one form or another. .

But it’s not just televisions that get a second-chance at life… [the rest, here]

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