Television remake

Sharp Corporation has announced that Kansai Recycling Systems, which is comprised of seven electrical companies, is to build a new factory to recycle CRT televisions. Mitubishi Materials, Sanyo Electric, Sony, Hitachi Compliance Group, Fujitsu, and Mitsubishi Electric are partners in the enterprise.

According to Sharp, the manufacturers are seeking to replace CRTs with LCD televisions by 2011. Due to the predicted increase in the disposal of CRTs, the company decided to build a second factory in Mie Prefecture following one already built in Hirakata, Osaka.

The factory will use recycling technology encompassing the whole process from taking the television apart to refining the glass into tiny pieces to be melted down. It will be designed to use natural energy, potential sources being solar, biomass, micro hydraulic power, and geothermal heat.

Recycling of televisions has achieved wide penetration in Japan, with 11.6 million televisions recycled in 2005, up 104 per cent compared to the previous year.