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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
4.18.2006 ET
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'Secret Agent' for Xerox Toner Helps Company Uncover More Energy Savings
(CSRwire) ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2006--Xerox Corporation
(NYSE: XRX) has deployed a "secret agent" to help it conserve more
energy.
A secret E-Agent, that is.
The E-Agent - or embrittling agent - is a special chemical ingredient
that is reducing the amount of energy needed to make certain Xerox printer
toner by up to 22 percent. As a result, Xerox is well on the way to saving
more than 30 million kilowatt hours of electricity by 2008 - enough power
to light more than 24,000 U.S. households for a year - and making strides
toward its goal to cut global greenhouse gas emissions.
"The manufacturing of supplies - especially toner manufacturing - is
among the most energy-intensive activities within Xerox," says John R.
Laing, senior vice president, Xerox Supplies Delivery Unit. "With ongoing
Xerox innovations like E-Agent, we're helping Xerox not only reduce costs
but also contribute to a cleaner environment and live the values of Earth
Day all year long."
Xerox is the inventor and world's largest manufacturer of toner,
producing it in eight locations worldwide, including Webster, N.Y., and in
Oklahoma City, Okla. Toner is the "dry ink" powder fused on paper to make
laser prints and copies. In the conventional toner manufacturing process,
large particles of plastics, colorants and other additives are
mechanically pulverized into small, relatively uniform toner particles. It
takes about 50 of these toner particles to print a period on this page.
The grinding process is the most energy-intensive step, consuming up to
40 percent of the total energy used for making toner. The "grinding"
happens when toner particles are blown against each other at high speeds
inside a chamber, and the collisions cause the particles to split
apart.
Xerox engineers knew that if the toner particles become easier to grind,
the whole process becomes more energy efficient. They discovered that by
adding the embrittling agent to the toner "recipe," particles would be
more likely to shatter upon contact and reach the desired particle size
more quickly. Depending on the product family, E-Agent makes the grinding
rate up to twice as fast.
The patented E-Agent process has been successfully implemented in toner
for some Xerox products - such as the Xerox DocuPrint and DocuTech
families of digital presses and printers - and is in the process of being
tested for others.
By 2008, the energy savings associated with Xerox's use of E-Agent is
expected to avoid over 18,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions -
the equivalent of saving the annual emissions from over 2,500 midsize
American cars.
"We believe this 'secret agent' will be one of the success stories that
helps Xerox achieve its greenhouse gas reduction goals," Laing says.
Xerox has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions - the compounds in
the atmosphere thought to trigger global climate change - from its
worldwide operations by 10 percent over a 10-year period. Xerox's
emissions result from using fossil fuels and buying electricity for
power. To meet its target, Xerox is working to improve energy efficiency
by 30 percent compared to 2002 levels, throughout its global
operations.
Xerox's pledge aligns with its long-standing commitment to the
protection of the environment and the health and safety of its employees,
customers and neighbors. The company has received major environmental
awards worldwide, and it has pioneered conservation and protective
environmental policies well in advance of governmental regulations. In
addition to innovations like E-Agent, Xerox continues to develop more
energy-efficient processes, products and technologies to help both the
company and its customers meet their environmental objectives.
Customer Contacts:
For more information about Xerox environmental policies and programs,
visit www.xerox/tr/environment
For more information about Xerox toner and supplies, visit www.xerox.com/tr/supplies.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For photography and for more information about Xerox,
visit www.xerox.com/news. XEROX(R) is a trademark of XEROX CORPORATION.
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Copyright Business Wire 2006
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