Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. in Japan has developed a new digital copy machine model, the "DocuCentre 507-MD," and a digital complex machine equipped with scanning and printing functions, the "DocuCentre 507 CP-MD," which have much less environmental impact than conventional models because they are made of 70 percent recycled parts (by weight). Both appeared on the market in October 2003.

Since 1995, the company has taken the initiative in reducing environmental impacts throughout the product life cycle, from planning, development and manufacturing to disposal. Previous DocuCenter series models are collected from customers and the parts are recycled into the new series. As a result, Fuji Xerox has succeeded in reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 75 percent in the new models' manufacturing process, compared to conventional models made from all new parts.

The achievement of this high reuse rate is largely due to the company's original resource recycling system, which has made it possible to ensure that products made of 70 percent recycled parts are equal in quality to products made using entirely new parts. This system's key features include:

(1) Fuji Xerox has set up a nationwide recycling-related logistics system and a simulation program to predict the quantity and quality of used products being collected at designated sites across the country to reserve a fixed quantity of parts for reuse.
(2) Parts used in the company's products are designed to be reusable through several generations. This is achieved by making the assumption at the development stage that the parts will be reused.
(3) Advanced reuse technology is used to sort collected parts and recover them in a condition equal to that of new parts.

Furthermore, by using its original "Roll in Roll" fixing technology, Fuji Xerox has achieved a high energy consumption efficiency of 80Wh/h, and only 5W in sleep mode. In addition, while conventional copy machines and multifunction machines are made of galvanized sheets containing a trace of hexavalent chromium, a hazardous chemical. The latest models are made of steel sheets treated so that their surface is hexavalent-chromium-free. The company has also successfully developed a closed-loop recycling technology for plastic parts, which formerly have been reused only as fuel because they are difficult to recycle into new products. All of these efforts contribute to reducing environmental impact.




Posted: 2004/02/03 06:44:16 PM
Japanese version

TAG Eco-product/Business , Manufacturing industry , Material reduction , Technology