With each passing day it is getting harder for us to imagine a world that is devoid of the television, laptop, PC, mobile phone and even the MP3 players and the gaming consoles. Sure, not everyone sports them al, but most of us are addicted to electronic gadgets and gladly enjoy the comfort and convenience they have to offer.

The problem though does not crop up from the usage, but the fact that you ultimately need to throw them away after they become old and less fashionable. And acccording to the Environmental Protection Agency, 1.5 million to 1.9 million tons of electronic waste was deposited in U.S. landfills in 2005. So is there a better way to deal with this looming hazard for the planet? Sure thing!

The problem is that e-waste contains hazardous chemicals and toxic metals such as flame retardants, arsenic, mercury and cadmium; making it lethal. With that in mind, initiatives like the European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) are taking shape in Europe to force consumers to recycle them responsibly and to dispose them in a manner that does the least damage to environment.

There are many companie’s that offer WEEE Compliance schemes and pick up trash from your doorstep so that it is dealt with in the appropriate fashion. This might cost you a tad bit, but it’s very little compare to what ill-disposed electronic waste causes to the planet. And of course you can always choose to donate the waste to your local church or school community which will gladly use your old laptop or even mobile and put it to good use.

Since most of us discard the old gadgets for new ones just to stay in style or because our technical requirements have outgrown the product, there is no reason why someone else could not use your perfectly good old device. And have you thought of those computer recycling programs offered by companies which are selling the products in the first place? You can mail your old monitors and systems back to the producer and most often they will deal with that responsibly.

A cool new initiative is being offered by Apple which appeals a lot to all the techno geeks who end up creating most of the electronic trash. Apple is willing to take in any old mobile phone or MP3 player and it will even send you the packaging.

Ilegally and obviously not morally correct to dispose off electronic waste in any other fashion, US and Europe are waking up to the fact, with large developing nations like China and India are turning into hot beds for poorly disposed electronic waste.

Images by maiac and zilpho

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Panasonic is planning to spend Y100 billion ($1billion+ depending on the yen rate) to develop eco-friendly energy technologies like rechargeable batteries and solar cells.

This plan is in align with the company’s desire to acquire Sanyo Electric for a sum close to $9 billion.

Sanyo’s strength is in rechargeable batteries (leader in Li-ion batteries) and solar cells (ranks 7th), which Panasonic considers as strategic areas.

“We needed to take drastic measures to secure growth amid a global economic downturn and structural changes in the electronics industry,” said Panasonic’s President, Fumio Ohtsubo.

When the two are combined it will create a giant manufacturer more competitive to ride out a worsening global downturn, with consolidated sales of more than 10 trillion yen, equal to Japan’s No 1 electronics and electrical machinery maker – Hitachi Ltd.

The Panasonic/Sanyo duo will also make for a powerful force in developing eco-friendly technologies, too.

Source: Nikkei (sub req)