Panasonic Speeds Up Recycling with Lasers
At the Panasonic Eco Technology Center in Kato, Japan, they've come up with a way to recycle old CRT TVs three times faster. Typically, workers could only disassemble 24 sets per hour because of the time-consuming task of separating the thick glass contained in the front and backs of the tubes. Now, with a new method that users a powerful laser, workers can disassemble 72 per hour.
The laser system has also allowed the center to handle more TV sizes than the old hot wire method they had been using, increasing the amount of sets being recycled by the center by an even larger amount. This new method was developed right on time, as Japan is transitioning from analog to digital broadcasting in July 2011, meaning the volume of CRTs arriving for recycling is about to double.
Japan requires the recycling of many home electronics, including CRT and flat-panel TVs.
via PC World