Fuji Xerox to Start Land-Use Survey at Manufacturing Sites in Japan and Abroad Aiming at Conserving Biodiversity

TOKYO, April 7, 2010 –Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. starts surveys of land use as well as life form at its manufacturing sites aiming to conserve biodiversity. The initiative is initially implemented at five of its manufacturing centers (in Mie, Niigata, Toyama and Kanagawa^{Note 1}), and sequentially introduced to four overseas production sites (in China and Thailand^{Note 2}). Fuji Xerox plans to complete the surveys and development/implementation of countermeasures by the end of FY2010, and to incorporate items concerning the biodiversity conservation into each site's Environmental Management Systems (EMS) from the next fiscal year onward.

Amidst growing public interest in biodiversity conservation, Fuji Xerox reviewed the environmental impact of its business activities as a whole from the perspective of their impact on the ecosystem and biodiversity. According to relevancy to the businesses, the company determined the priority of activities for reducing such impact, and subsequently decided to carry out detailed surveys on its manufacturing sites’ influence on the ecosystem and biodiversity through land use.

Starting with its domestic sites, Fuji Xerox will conduct, from April to May, on-site investigations to examine the potential risk destroying the ecosystem. Specific survey items include the state of noise/wastewater and how they are processed, whether the sites are aware of potential biodiversity cases including their vicinity, as well as what types of plants are planted on the premises. If any risk is identified, countermeasures will be implemented. Based on the survey results, each of the manufacturing sites will be setting management indicators, and reflecting them to the list of EMS items.

Following the land-use survey, Fuji Xerox will conduct life-form surveys to examine what kind of creatures live in and around the manufacturing sites, observe their chronological changes and promote their conservation in conjunction with the respective areas' NPOs. The company encourages employees to become more aware of local ecosystems and deepen partnership with local communities as part of its social action programs, by participating in and contributing to these environmental conservation activities.

To date, Fuji Xerox has implemented initiatives for conserving ecosystems and biodiversity. For example, it takes biodiversity conservation into consideration in its procurement activities under the Environmental, Health and Safety Requirements for Paper Procurement^{Note 3}, which requires copy paper suppliers to ensure legal compliance and prevent their logging operations from affecting ecosystems and local residents. The ethical procurement activities^{Note 4} with parts suppliers, introduced in 2007, have also raised awareness on biodiversity through highlighting the importance of conservation of nature in the supplier guideline. In addition to these activities directly linked to businesses, Fuji Xerox has been raising the awareness among employees through social action programs; including contributing to conserving local Satoyama, where arable land is nurtured amidst mountainous terrain, and organizing workshops to develop Nature Conservation Educators in partnership with The Nature Conservation Society of Japan. Further, in October 2009, the company launched the One Company, One Theme Movement^{Note 5} as a company-wide effort to promote conservation activities under the common theme of biodiversity protection.

Fuji Xerox implements the series of surveys from both business (land-use survey) and social contribution (life-form survey) aspects.

Note 1

Fuji Xerox Manufacturing’s Centers at Suzuka, Niigata, Toyama and Takematsu, as well as Fuji Xerox Ebina Center

Note 2

Fuji Xerox of Shenzhen, Fuji Xerox of Shanghai, Fuji Xerox Eco-Manufacturing (Suzhou) and Fuji Xerox Eco-Manufacturing (Thailand)

Note 3

Fuji Xerox Environmental, Health and Safety Requirements for Paper Procurement (established in 2004): (1) Comply with all applicable laws and codes of practice; (2) Practice sustainable forest management; (3) State the source of reused pulp for used paper; (4) Ensure the safety of chemical substances used; (5) Eliminate chlorine bleaching process in paper production; and (6) Maintain an environmental management system at factories.

Note 4

Today, companies must make a high level of achievement in processes in addition to product quality, cost and delivery time. Ethical procurement is the approach of eliminating potential problems in all aspects of manufacturing processes, including parts suppliers and their suppliers.

Note 5

The One Company, One Theme Movement encourages Fuji Xerox employees including those of all domestic and overseas affiliates to conduct social contribution activities that closely address the needs of the respective countries and regions under the common theme of biodiversity conservation. See below for details:
http://www.fujixerox.com/eng/company/news/2009/0929_onetheme.html

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