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November 10, 2004
Zero Waste and Industrial Ecology: A Talk with Xerox VP for Environment, Health, and Safety Jack Azar
by William Baue
In part one of this two-part interview, Mr. Azar discusses the history of waste-free policies and
practices at Xerox.
SocialFunds.com --
Tomorrow morning, Xerox (ticker: XRX) CEO and Chair Anne Mulcahy
will deliver a keynote address to the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) Conference in New York City. To provide background on Xerox's
sustainability, SocialFunds.com spoke with Jack Azar, Xerox's vice president of Environment,
Health, and Safety (EHS).
SocialFunds.com: Xerox is known for its zero waste
policies. Could you please describe the history and inspiration of how Xerox develop its zero waste
policies and programs?
Jack Azar: Xerox adopted a strong environmental policy in 1991.
This policy, along with several early waste-free successes, firmly established these principles in
the company. By success, I mean that we not only substantially reduced waste, but also we realized
substantial cost savings. We describe our commitment as seeking to produce waste-free products in
waste-free factories in order to enable our customers to be waste-free.
SF: What is the
current state of Xerox's zero waste programs?
Xerox products are designed to reduce
environmental impacts in all phases of the life cycle. We design our products for remanufacturing
and design imaging supply items for return, reuse and recycling. These early decisions mean that
once the product's supply item or the product itself has reached its end-of-life, we maximize the
assets and minimize the waste. These programs divert over 150 million pounds of electronic waste
from landfill each year. Since 1991, over 1.5 billion pounds of product waste have been reused or
recycled. We also design our products to be energy-efficient and to make efficient use of paper.
Both of these initiatives reduce waste during the product's use phase.
SF: Are zero waste
policies and practices of suppliers monitored?
JA: Xerox works closely with many
suppliers in achieving our goals, most notably, our contract manufacturer, Flextronics
International. Flextronics provides both manufacturing and remanufacturing services for most of
Xerox office products. Xerox also carefully manages suppliers that provide recycling and waste
disposal services. Xerox uses an audit process to ensure that these vendors' practices are safe,
environmentally sound, and compliant with all regulations. Xerox requires these companies to
document the final disposition of material sent to their facilities.
SF: And what comes
after zero waste?
JA: As I mentioned earlier, Xerox employs a life-cycle view in product
design. Our goals include safe products, efficient use of materials and resources, energy
efficiency, low emissions and minimal use of hazardous substances. Along with most other
electronics manufacturers, we have launched an aggressive program to work with suppliers to
eliminate the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium by 2006. Xerox eliminated the
use of targeted flame retardants in 1999.
To ensure responsible use of paper, we have
deployed environmental requirements to our suppliers that provide Xerox paper for resale. Xerox is
one of the largest distributors of cut-sheet paper in the world. These requirements ensure that
the fiber in the paper is sourced from responsibly and sustainably managed forests.
For
our own operations, we have committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We have established
our baseline inventory for the U.S. and will be expanding that inventory to our worldwide
operations and setting reduction targets in 2005.
SF: In what ways does Xerox
collaborate with other firms (including those in other industries) on industrial ecology?
JA: Xerox is involved in a number of voluntary programs that provide the opportunity for best
practice sharing. These include the EPA Climate Leaders program and the ENERGY STAR program. We
have also worked closely with certain customers to realize additional waste reduction activities.
©
SRI World Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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