In keeping with our corporate initiative, Think GAIA, SANYO has made a pledge to develop only products that are absolutely essential to life and the Earth. "We are dedicated to the earth and its people . . . dedicated to developing environmentally friendly energy products that improve everyday life." To that end, SANYO was instrumental in creating the Portable Rechargeable Battery Association (PRBA). This organization, made up of manufacturers, distributors and assemblers of rechargeable battery products, takes an active role in rechargeable issues worldwide. And to meet the immediate needs of rechargeable battery recycling in North America, PRBA established the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation. The RBRC is a non-profit public service organization, dedicated to the education and implementation of the Charge Up to Recycle! program.
SANYO is developing and manufacturing nickel-metal hydride batteries for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) as one of its secondary battery products, and these batteries have been adopted by Ford Motors of the United States and Honda Motor of Japan. We are also jointly developing next-generation nickel-metal hydride batteries with Volkswagen of Germany. Our technologies are thus utilized not only in the development of our own products but also in the development of environmentally friendly products of other companies.