Xerox Holdings Corp. sells printers, photocopiers, and digital equipment in more than 160 countries. Norwalk, Connecticut-based Xerox was founded in 1906 in Rochester, N.Y. In 2021, it had $13.21 billion in assets and employed 23,300 people. The company says it can control its impact on the environment, and the communities where it operates deserve as much. To that end, it moved up its net-zero goals by 10 years to 2040.
“Our roadmap covers our full value chain and focuses on improving processes and energy efficiency as well as designing environmentally responsible products and clean technologies that extend beyond print,” says John Visentin, chief executive officer in the company’s sustainability report.
He points to Xerox’s work with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop air conditions that use 80% less energy. This product accounts for 10% of electricity consumption and almost 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Some highlights in the past year:
What prompted the company to accelerate its net-zero aims?
In 2020, Xerox moved up its net-zero goals from 2050 to 2040. Moreover, it expanded its goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions to include Scope 3, which covers its supply chain. (Scope 1 and 2 are direct and indirect emissions.) It will do this through improvements in energy efficiency, technological innovations, and by buying carbon credits to neutralize its CO2 impact.
Its initial baseline year was between 2002 and 2016. It eliminated 320,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. In 2016, it sought to cut 25% more greenhouse gases by 2025, which it did by 2019. Now it wants to cut those same scope 1 and 2 emissions by 60% by 2030 against the 2016 baseline. If it succeeds, it will be an 85% reduction since 2002.
“For Scope 3 emissions, we formalized a goal of 35% reduction by 2030. For the past two decades, we have required our suppliers to meet stringent environment, health, and safety goals. We will intensify our efforts and work collaboratively with our supply chain and stakeholders to achieve this goal,” the company’s sustainability report says.
Your contributions to the circular economy?
The company strives to either eliminate or reduce its waste. To do so, it creates recyclable packaging whenever that is possible. At the same time, product teams are encouraged to develop responsible packaging alternatives while commercial equipment is designed and tested to be shipped with minimal packaging.
Since 2014, Xerox has launched products that achieve the environmental certification known as EPEAT Silver or Gold. In Germany, it strives to earn the eco-label called Blue Angel. “Our product standards encompass materials compliance, chemical management, packaging, electrical and mechanical safety, ergonomics, electromagnetic emissions, and acoustic noise.”
For the last 20 years, Xerox’s mission has been to keep toner cartridges out of landfills — something it achieves in the manufacturing process, which recovers the waste toner for reuse. In 2020, more than 1.5 million Xerox toner cartridges were manufactured using recovered cartridges, representing as much as 50% of toner cartridge production. Customers can also return spent cartridges to Xerox using a prepaid shipping label. Recycled waste toner makes up a quarter of the cartridge and does not affect print quality.
Furthermore:
• In 2021, Xerox introduced printers and multi-function devices with 10–16% post-consumer recycled plastic content and 21% for the associated toner cartridges.
• The company manages suppliers that provide recycling and waste disposal services to ensure the returned equipment is protected from data breaches and improper disposal. It does not allow our vendors to send electronic scrap to developing nations for processing
How has your operational efficiency improved?
Xerox says it invests in solutions that conserve natural resources and reduce the energy intensity of its operations. It has replaced chillers, boilers, and compressors at manufacturing locations and office sites worldwide with high-efficiency equipment and advanced controls to minimize energy use. Meantime, it has replaced its indoor lighting with LED bulbs while it has reduced the energy it needs to manufacture its products.
“In 2020, our energy consumption decreased 15.9% from 2019,” the company says. “However, it increased by 8.5% when normalized by revenue, which was impacted due to COVID-19. Beyond energy reduction, we will further reduce our GHG emissions by employing low- and no-carbon alternatives, such as alternative fuels for service and sales fleet vehicles and renewable energy for Xerox operations.”
In 2020, Xerox Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions totaled 97,456 metric tons of CO2 equivalents, a 50% reduction from the 2016 baseline. (In 2021, they rose slightly.) About 69% of the 2020 emissions were from natural gas, gasoline, and diesel fuel combustion. The remaining 31% of the greenhouse gas emissions total were indirect emissions from purchased electricity and steam. Manufacturing sites, offices, and warehouses contributed to 70.5% of its direct emissions, while the balance — 29.5% — were direct emissions from sales and service vehicles.
