Keeping 680m Kilos Of Printer Waste From Landfill

Xerox has marked the progress its environment, health and safety programme in its 10th annual progress report.

Totalling up the waste saved from landfill, the energy not consumed, the air and water pollution prevented and the injuries avoided, Xerox has marked the progress its environment, health and safety programme in its 10th annual progress report.

Among the results cited in the 2004 report Xerox said it has kept more than 680 million kilograms of waste out of landfills since 1991 by taking back and re-manufacturing copiers and printers that have reached the end of their lives and by reusing or recycling parts from them.

That weight is equivalent to a line of more than 88,000 school buses stretching for 550 miles claimed Xerox.

Last year alone, the company has claimed to have prevented 73 million kilograms of materials from entering landfills, through re-use and recycling of Xerox equipment and supplies.

In 2003, manufacturing, research and development and equipment recovery and recycle operations that Xerox operates in 11 countries around the world generated a total of 17,000 tons of hazardous waste, of which 97 tons was managed through treatment, recycling or energy recovery through fuels blending.

Also in 2003, Xerox facilities released 69 tons of chemicals and particulates to the air, which was a 20 per cent decrease from 2002, primarily due to production declines added the company.

Xerox said its zero injury initiative is one component of the company's overall program to protect employees from harm in the workplace.

Since zero injury was introduced in 1997, the company's days-away-from-work case rate has dropped by 43 per cent and the total-recordable-incident rate has fallen by 52 per cent.

Xerox's European manufacturing and supply chain sites at Mitcheldean in the UK, Dundalk in Ireland and Venray in the Netherlands, all retained the international standard ISO9001:2000 and ISO14001 accreditation with activities at both Venray and Mitcheldean being awarded the OHSAS 18001 badge during 2004.

The certification report noted that the company has a long established core set of values, including commitment to protecting the environment and health and safety of employees and interested parties.

It also noted that the occupational health and safety system fits into and established management framework.

The gains documented in this annual accounting result from an environmental, health and safety policy Xerox established more than a decade ago.

It committed the company to high standards worldwide.

And it pledged that the company would operate in a manner that would safeguard health, protect the environment, conserve valuable materials and resources, and minimise the risk of asset losses - tenets that would not be compromised for economic considerations added the company.

Operating that way has resulted in what Xerox regarded as surprising opportunities for savings and innovation, according to Malcolm Hemming, manager for environment, health and safety for Xerox Europe.

And it has helped customers to meet their own sustainability goals as well the company believes.

"We have made remarkable gains by embracing a philosophy of waste-free products from waste-free facilities throughout Xerox," he said.

"Our remanufacturing operations, for instance, have saved the company several hundred millions of Euros each year.

Now we are harnessing the creativity of employees, suppliers and customers, asking even more of ourselves and extending environmental, health and safety requirements even further across the product lifecycle." In its quest for continuous improvement, this year Xerox said it has required materials and component suppliers to meet a more stringent environmental, health and safety standard for the chemical content of parts and materials used in Xerox products.

In addition, the company said it continues its work to eliminate lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium in new products by July 1 2006, in accordance with the EU directive on restriction of the uses of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

Xerox added that it is committed to the protection of the environment and the health and safety of its employees, customers and neighbours.

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