STAMFORD, Conn.--Nov. 11, 2004-- Totaling up the waste saved from landfill, the energy not consumed, the air and water pollution prevented and the injuries avoided - all through positive initiatives - Xerox Corporation celebrated the success of its Environment, Health and Safety program in its 10th annual progress report, even as the company looked ahead to future challenges. Among the landmark results cited in the 2004 report, formally issued today: Xerox has kept more than 1.5 billion pounds of waste out of landfills since 1991 by taking back and remanufacturing copiers and printers that have reached their end of life and by reusing or recycling parts from them. That weight is equivalent to a line of more than 88,000 school buses stretching for 550 miles. Last year alone, the company prevented 161 million pounds of materials from entering landfills, through reuse and recycling of Xerox equipment and supplies. Xerox made possible energy savings of nearly 1.5 million megawatt hours of electricity in 2003 through selling office products that meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR criteria and by remanufacturing and reusing parts, a process that requires less energy than processing raw materials to make new parts. In total, energy saved through ENERGY STAR product features and equipment remanufacturing is enough to light nearly 1.2 million U.S. homes for a year. Since Xerox joined the EPA's program as a Charter Partner in 1993, more than 260 Xerox copier, printer, fax and multifunction systems have earned the ENERGY STAR. In 2003, manufacturing, research and development, and equipment recovery/recycle operations that Xerox operates in 11 countries around the world generated a total of 16,800 tons of hazardous waste. Ninety-seven percent of that was beneficially managed through treatment, recycling or energy recovery through fuels blending. In 2003, Xerox facilities released 68 tons of chemicals and particulates to the air. This was a 20 percent decrease from 2002, primarily due to production declines. Xerox's Zero Injury initiative is one component of the company's overall program to protect employees from harm in the workplace. Since Zero Injury was introduced in 1997, the company's days-away-from-work case rate has dropped by 43 percent, and the total-recordable-incident rate has fallen by 52 percent. The gains documented in this annual accounting result from a visionary environmental, health and safety policy Xerox established more than a decade ago. It committed the company to high standards worldwide. And it pledged that the company would operate in a manner that would safeguard health, protect the environment, conserve valuable materials and resources, and minimize the risk of asset losses - tenets that would not be compromised for economic considerations. Operating this way has resulted in surprising opportunities for savings and innovation, according to Jack C. Azar, vice president, Environment, Health and Safety. And it has helped customers to meet their own sustainability goals as well. "We have made remarkable gains by embracing a philosophy of 'Waste-Free products from Waste-Free Facilities' throughout Xerox," Azar said. "Our remanufacturing operations, for instance, have saved the company several hundred millions of dollars each year. Now we are harnessing the creativity of employees, suppliers and customers, asking even more of ourselves and extending environmental, health and safety requirements even further across the product lifecycle." In its quest for continuous improvement, this year Xerox has: Required materials and component suppliers to meet a more stringent environmental, health and safety standard for the chemical content of parts and materials used in Xerox products. Qualified additional cartridges and waste toners for remanufacture. Worked with paper suppliers to ensure their adherence to sound environmental, health and safety practices and to sustainable forest management by the end of 2004. Other recent initiatives include developing a baseline inventory in preparation for setting greenhouse gas emission targets; instituting an aggressive spill-control program that resulted in a 35 percent reduction in reportable spills at its Webster, N.Y., manufacturing site; and reassessing potentially hazardous electrical and mechanical equipment worldwide to ensure appropriate safety measures are in place. In addition, the company continues its work to eliminate lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium in new products by July 1, 2006.