The firm's Indian arm had earlier kicked off an internal recycling programme for electronic goods in association with Bangalore-based E-Parisaraa, an electronic waste recycling firm, to create awareness about recycling.

"The objective behind this programme is to create awareness about recycling and its benefits within the organisation before taking the programme to consumers," Panasonic India said in a statement.

Till date, 700 kilograms of material have been recycled as part of the internal recycling process. This includes items such phones, fax machines, televisions, air conditioners, fans and compressors, it added.

In the next phase, Panasonic India intends to take this programme to consumers through its exclusive brand shops, which will act as collection centres, it added.
The company said the programme will roll out in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Later on, it is likely to move to Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai.

This initiative has been undertaken in line with the firm's global vision of becoming the No. 1 'Green Innovation Electronics Company' by 2018, it said.

"E-waste is currently estimated to be 800,000 metric tonnes in India. With the growing use of electronics, it becomes imperative that safe and reliant methods are introduced and adopted for the disposal of e-waste," Panasonic India Director (Operations and Planning) Arjun Balakrishnan said.

The company also said it plans to promote factory waste recycling in India. "In the process, they aim at triggering a series of environmental awareness building campaigns in India," it said.