Xerox Environmental Protection

Humanity depends on the lumber, the use of which often results in deforestation. A person cannot conduct his or her basic daily activities without the use of timbers and woods. Moreover, every home is furnished with some wood fittings. Whether it is a wooden chair, a table, or even a piece of paper, it is made of wood. Wood is a part of the majority of the items and tools an individual requires in everyday life. It is not possible to overlook the significance of humans clearing the forests. Human actions transform the forested lands, forcing the global environmental to change and loose the biodiversity. Human actions have a continuous effect on the nature. Forests are degraded, fragmented and cleared by human caused fires, timber harvests, agricultural converters, road building and other myriad ways. The environmentalists continuously fight to stop the deforestation and to prevent the radical changes in the universe. It is important to note that deforestation has profound results for life on Earth.

Background

In line with its enduring obligation to the environmental protection, in 2003 Xerox has dispensed a set of health, safety and environmental requirements to the paper suppliers. Being the largest producer of the cut-sheet paper in the world, Xerox distinguishes its responsibility to ensure the availability of the health forests that offer raw materials for paper production. Advancing the practice of justifiable forest management amongst Xerox paper traders is an essential constituent of Xerox’s environmental protection commitment.
In 2000, Xerox assumed the following view on paper sourcing: to source paper from the companies committed to follow healthy, safe and environmentally friendly practices. In addition, Xerox fights for sustainable forest management in their undertakings together with their suppliers. Xerox intends to protect the integrity and health of forest ecosystems, soil and water resources, conserve biological diversity, protect forest areas of important ecological or cultural significance, and make sure that there is a sustainable yield. Companies should be committed to amenability with all appropriate EH&S governing necessities in the countries where they carry out their operations.

In the effort to support this view, Xerox has ascertained a set of EH&S necessities for organizations that offer the resale paper to Xerox. The requirements that cover aspects of papermaking from the forest management to manufacturing of finished product will be comprised in their existing process for succeeding suppliers. All Xerox paper distributors should meet these preliminaries worldwide in order to carry out business with Xerox and should submit supporting documentation on the annual basis, authenticating their conformance.

Analysis

Cutting down trees is detrimental to the environment. Many companies that make paper cut down trees and clear forests in their effort to acquire raw materials. Papermaking companies cut more and more trees every day out as the company progresses. Cutting trees courses deforestation, which in turn leads to climate change.

Deforestation has many effects such as drought in the areas where trees are eliminated. Cutting down trees can be devastating, since it can lead to hunger. Once the crops lack sufficient hydration from rains, they are unable to grow. Forests control climate. Fluctuations in the atmospheric carbon dioxide in the temperate zone comprise a spring through the autumn deterioration due to the plant photosynthesis at the developing period. Furthermore, autumn through spring increase carbon dioxide as decomposition and respiration increase photosynthetic uptake. At the regional gauge, forests control local weather and climate. Rain forests carry an enormous amount of water to the atmosphere through plant transpiration. Here, plant roots absorb water, carrying dissolved minerals to the  shoot system. Plants interchange gases with the atmosphere via openings in the backs of their leaves, and transpire in a similar way. That water loss offers the crops with the means to carry materials, and is advantageous, as long as water forfeiture is not disproportionate. Much of the water transpired replenishes clouds and enables rain, which preserves rain forests. If trees are cut down, the rain will become a river water, stream to distant lakes and seas, and leave that region enduringly dry. At this point, the rain forest will not be able to restore. Forests preserve local climate and weather and strongly affect global fluxes of carbon dioxide and oxygen. Before green plants appear, it is deliberated that there is very little oxygen in the atmosphere.

At this point, the policies should be incorporated in every company. One of the policies should be to decrease the amount of the cut trees and discover other ways for obtaining raw materials. Such companies could import trees from Mediterranean forest areas. Furthermore, the companies should invest in other ways that will allow them to obtain raw materials. The companies can invest in planting trees with short maturity rate. The recipient of this memo should immediately act on it since the continuation of the aforementioned practices can lead to permanent severe problems such as droughts. In addition, innovation will ensure the Xerox Company to continue functioning even once trees are over. If the companies do not stop cutting down trees, there will be no more trees. At this point, Xerox will have to close down since there is no raw material for the company to process into finished products. EH&S should introduce a procurement process that will ensure the prohibition of unlawfully harvested trees for the Xerox papers. The EH&S should ensure the marginalization of the company in case they get their raw materials from forest fields of cultural and ecological importance except certified to the Xerox-accepted sustainable tree management standard. Additionally, EH&S should encourage suppliers of forest raw resources to practice sustainable forest management.

Options

Xerox supposes that its supplier companies will improve their materials because of their determination to sustain forests. Supplier companies must understand their commitment to comply the laws, encompassing forestry regulations and practicing codes governing legalized wood harvesting. In addition, policies required by EH&S beyond regulatory importance must incorporate a detailed beneficial objectives for the sawmill companies and system for the continuous development in environmental performances. Further, there should be the introduction of independent third party that will keep the documentation of managed forestry operations or supplier-owned to the Xerox standards that are accepted sustainable forest management. Xerox trusts that there are numerous standards for sustainable forest management whose performance-founded provisions for safeguarding forest ecological health. The company also should fight for the protection of water and soil resources, conserving biodiversity, protecting areas of significant cultural or ecological value. In addition, it should ensure sustainable results are reliable with the Xerox’s demands.

One of the advantages of adhering to the EH&S guiding requirements is ensuring a continued safety for biodiversity. In addition, safety for the environment and afforestation will ensure continued operations of the Xerox undertakings as a result of assured supply of raw materials. Failure to control the way supplier companies obtain their raw material from their party will result in the collapse of Xerox Company. The collapse will be as a result of lack of raw materials for its functions.

Recommendations

EH&S should enact strict limits on the utilization of hazardous materials such as elemental chlorine in the content and processing of Xerox papers. Xerox distinguishes that one of the greatest significant challenges their suppliers will face in achieving their necessities will be to prove that they are protecting forest areas of importance cultural and ecological importance. Xerox fully backs multi-stakeholder energies to recognize forest areas needing protection and to advance information tools. As well, the company backs and sources that will allow suppliers to recognize these areas on their forestlands and in their purchasing of wood raw materials from the third party. Forest ecosystems provide valuable human products and ecosystem services, in addition, EH&S should enact laws to regulate deforestation. The fight should be active since deforestation has eliminated approximately half of the universe’ forests, and in more cut down of trees in lifetime threatens to eradicate most of the outstanding tropical forests.

However, most of the temperate forests are re-growing and should be protected to ensure the approximated rate of the forest recovered.

On the other hand, forests should be preserved and managed for multiple uses that include restoring as many of possible of the natural ecosystem activity. In various cases, EH&S should endeavour to restore old-development or the pre-disturbance prerequisite.