One pillar of environmental conservation activities at Fuji Xerox is promotion of the Integrated Recycling System. The underlying idea of this system is that end-of-life products are not waste but valuable resources.
The Integrated Recycling System is centered on a closed-loop system in which the company collects end-of-life products that have been released on the market, and reuse the parts in a closed loop in order to curbs new resource input. All processes from upstream planning to downstream recycling are guided by two major concepts: “Inverse manufacturing,” aimed at creating products with less environmental impact based on the assumption that their parts will be reused in manufacturing, and “Zero emissions,” aimed at sorting and recycling parts that cannot be reused in order to optimize them as new resources.

Integrated Recycling System

For more details, see “Integrated Recycling System (products recycling activity)”.

Fuji Xerox promoted the development of popular office color multifunction devices with reused parts from collected end-of-life products whose quality is guaranteed to be comparable to the ones that were assembled with brand-new parts totally. In May 2006, we marketed the DocuCentre C2100, a new product featuring the latest technology. This product has broken through an increasing number of 10,000 in 2007. Then, in February of 2008, as the second bullet of integrated recycled copy devices, DocuCentre C2101 was introduced into the market.

“System to Identity the Parts Usage History” which was experimentally introduced and tested in FY2005, was successfully introduced in February of 2008. This system can automatically judge the availability reuse by data on usage situation of products and unit. Traditionally, the feasibility for reuse was judged based on the copy volume and duration period and the products used above these standards were recycled even if some reusable parts were contained in the products. With the introduction of new production system, we can now automatically judge the feasibility for reuse parts by parts, by matching data for usage history and parts duration master. We look forward to more effective use of resources by expanding the range of products this system can treat.

In FY2007, through the enhancement of producing technology in reuse design and reuse producing, it was possible to reuse those products which had been difficult to reuse so far.

· Document Setting Parts (Glass)
In previous designs, documents used to slide in documents setting parts, and anti-static coating on the face of glass has fallen off and the part could not be reused. Now the design has been changed so that the documents do not slide on the document setting part. With this change, the anti-static coating is no longer needed. Furthermore, cleansing and inspection technologies have been introduced to ensure the exterior quality, and reuse of the glass has been made possible.

Paper Cassettes
In previous designs, the paper cassettes were unfit for reuse due to smudges from static. Separation design has been introduced to the cassette, which made separation of handle parts and paper storage parts possible. The handle parts are still unfit for reuse because of the fading color and smudges from handling but the paper storage parts now can be reused with the introduction of cleansing technologies.

As a great initiative for international integrated recycling system, Fuji Xerox's Integrated Recycling System in China started operation January 2008. The recycling site is Fuji Xerox Eco-Manufacturing (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. in Suzhou, China. Through this company, Fuji Xerox is recycling the products in all Chinese regions aiming at “zero emission,” “no pollution,” and “no illegal disposal” with me same level of integrated recycling system as in Japan and Asia-Pacific. The structure of the system is: (1) products recovery, (2) basic logistic net, (3) recycling partners, (4) transfer rules of disposal.
Since it was not customary in China to collect end-of-life products, many difficulties arose due to differences in business practices. However, Fuji Xerox China Limited, our sales company established in China, participated in the project and assisted with the construction of a collection system. They also coordinated the collection cooperation process. To provide an understanding of the significance of recycling to customers and retailers in China, we conducted awareness-raising activities by distributing leaflets, showing videos, and holding briefing sessions. We will continue these activities and efforts in order to firmly root recycling activities across the country.
With regard to the establishment of basic distribution networks, China Postal Logistics Co., Ltd., a postal service company in China, became our logistics partner, thanks to cooperation provided by Mitsui & Co. (Shanghai) Ltd. and Tri-net (China) Logistics Co., Ltd. This partnership has enabled us to transport end-of-life products from all over China to Suzhou. As for the selection of recycling partners, we obtained the cooperation of 10 Chinese companies and four Japanese companies and established a system for improved recycling performance. There used to be strict regulations concerning the transportation of waste across provinces and cities in China, but the establishment of the law concerning recycling has virtually eliminated this problem.