“We saved an estimated 758 tonnes of waste that would have been processed as scrap or even landfill. The economic benefit is as good as the environmental outcome.” – why reusing parts of a printer makes sense and how a passionate bushwalker makes a difference.

Ramsay Moodie, Director Corporate Affairs, Fuji Xerox Australia, Sydney, Australia

Doesn’t it sound like a fairy tail to imagine that an enterprise claims to recycle 99.5% of its end of life product and worn out spare parts waste? That would mean that only 0.5% of its product waste goes into landfill. It sounds even more improbable if the company is not about virtual services but about large enterprise printers, toner cartridges, heavy metal parts etc. But this is exactly what is happening with Fuji Xerox in the Asian region right now with the help of its new Thailand recycling facility.
Today, their Australian eco manufacturing plant achieves an 80% recycling rate in respect of the remanufacture of equipment sub assemblies and spare parts removed from equipment being repaired for its customers in Australia. The engineering behind this process has helped to improve the quality of some parts dramatically and remanufacturing specialists provide valuable feedback to the production side of the company.
Now, together with eight other countries in the region, Australia is able to export products at the end of their life to a purpose built end of life recycling facility in Thailand. Similarly sub assemblies and spare parts that are not able to be locally remanufactured are recycled through this same plant.
In the Thailand plant Fuji-Xerox’ products taken back from customers are disassembled into smallest pieces that then get reused in the same or other products or recycled back to raw materials.
The end point target of the company as described in Fuji Xerox’ environmental statement is zero waste to landfill: “waste free products from waste free factories” – an incredibly difficult goal that, however, seems will be ultimately achievable.
Why would they do all that? Fuji-Xerox’ sustainability report explains part of the reasoning: “The role of corporations in the sustainability task is enormously important. Firstly, because the size of the impact that corporations or businesses have on the environment by way that they control so much human endeavor, which they can direct within a sustainability framework. But also through their own good practices and aspirations, empowering their employees with a sustainability vision.”
Ramsay Moodie has been with the company for many years and has gradually moved into his current role that includes sustainability and environmental responsibilities next to legal compliance. He is a passionate bushwalker, engaged socially, and now enjoys bringing his passion for the environment into his professional life.

Ramsay Moodie gave us some very interesting insight that you can enjoy by reading selected thoughts and statements below. You may be able to read more about Fuji Xerox’s work in our book “MyImpact”.

Ramsay Moodie’s selected quotations:
“Our initial focus on environmental imperatives occurred during the 80ies when we redefined our new product offerings to be ‘newly manufactured’ and stated that such products would incorporate new and recycled parts. Much has happened in the interim and the world we deal with now is different, and one that readily accepts such practices.”

"Our main goal is to provide products for our customers and a return for our shareholders. But how do you, in addition, be what your stakeholders want you to be? I don't know what exactly they expect, we are exploring it."

"Our long-term objective is less than 0.5% waste to landfill. This is an extremely challenging target and we are working on it intensively."

“We saved some AUD 26.4 million on the remanufacture of parts and sub assemblies in 2005 and generated export revenue of AUD 5.2 million, saving estimated 758 tonnes of waste that would have been processed as scrap or even landfill. The economic benefit is as good as the environmental outcome.”

"The capitalistic profit model is extremely good at motivating people; it's excellent in doing that. Provided we can build sustainability into the model we’ll be right…."

"There is an ethical issue around the value of human contribution. Can one person's contribution be 200 times greater than another one's?”

“A commitment to Sustainable Development is a “must” not a “nice to””.

"Politics and regulations are extremely important. I hope soon all cost - including environmental degradation - will be priced into the economy so that business will not be able to maximize profit without taking sustainability into account."

Some background on Ramsay Moodie:
Ramsay Moodie grew up and went to school in Sydney. For a year he travelled Australia before becoming a Chartered Accountant and joining Fuji Xerox. Ramsay has by now spent some 30 odd years with Fuji Xerox and Xerox Corporation both in Australia and overseas apart from a short break in the 90ies working for an Investment Bank.
After several steps within the corporation, Ramsay today carries the title of Director Corporate Affairs for Fuji Xerox Australia, a role in which he has responsibility for legal compliance but in which he takes a significant leadership role covering Fuji Xerox’s commitment to Sustainable Development and in particular its Environmental Management System.
In his non corporate life Ramsay is a farmer and a bushwalker and a Director of the Charity United Way Sydney. It is due to his commitment to the bush that he has moved to take a leadership role in Fuji Xerox in respect to the coordination of their commitment to the preservation of the environment and sustainable development as a business vision.

Some background on Fuji Xerox:
Fuji Xerox and Xerox represent a worldwide partnership with worldwide revenues of AUD 34billion yearly and employing some 95,000 people. A leader in the critical digital print and colour markets, Fuji Xerox’s customers in Australia produce more than 12 billion pages on Xerox technology annually. Fuji Xerox markets a broad range of printers, digital production publishers, multifunction devices, copiers, facsimile products and scanners. The range now includes everything from a sub $500 office printer, through office print/copy/fax/scan multi-function devices to a $1 million digital colour press. Fuji Xerox also sells software in areas including optical character recognition, knowledge management, web viewing and one-to-one marketing.
As a fundamental component of its commitment to corporate citizenship Fuji Xerox Australia is committed to the protection of the environment and the continuous improvement of its performance in the reduction of environmental impacts. This commitment applies across the whole of Fuji Xerox Australia’s business covering the supply and support of document processing equipment and software and the provision of analogous services.
Fuji Xerox Australia encourages the engagement of its staff with the community in which they live and work as a fundamental corporate citizenship precept. As a practical underpinning of this commitment, the company has implemented a Community Service Award program. The Community Service Awards provide a series of grants to community organisations that staff engage with as volunteers.

Background on the Eco Manufacturing Center:
Fuji Xerox Australia’s Eco Manufacturing Centre in Zetland is a world leader in the development of ecologically sustainable remanufacturing solutions and is the global benchmark of the Xerox Group's remanufacturing operations. It was opened in Sydney in 2000 and now has the capacity to service the entire Fuji Xerox Asia-Pacific region. A state-of-the-art facility employing 120 people, the Centre is purely dedicated to remanufacturing used parts and components for Australia and the Asia Pacific Region. The Eco Manufacturing Centre now accounts for 80% of Fuji Xerox Australia's spare parts requirements - these parts would have otherwise been scrapped or gone to landfill. Importantly, all remanufactured items are given the same customer satisfaction guarantee as new products. Many of the remanufacturing developments have proven so successful that they are communicated worldwide and the improvements implemented into the design of new technology. The Eco Manufacturing Centre has been recognized frequently for its environmental practices and engineering technology. In 2000, the Eco Manufacturing Centre was successful in achieving a place in the United Nations Global 500 Roll of Honour for environmental achievement. In 2002, the Centre received the prestigious Eureka National Science Award for Industry and the Australian Institute of Engineers Award for the Environment.

If you would like to engage with the work of Ramsay Moodie and his colleagues or get to know more about Fuji Xerox please visit www.fujixeros.com.au,
or, for more specific opportunities, contact joanna.stefanska@myimpact.ch or wolfgang.hafenmayer@myimpact.ch directly.