September 18, 2007

Xerox Opens $60 Million Energy Efficient Toner Plant

Xerox is filling more than 20 miles of pipe and stainless steel tanks with billions of micron-sized toner particles with the opening of its first U.S.-based emulsion aggregation Toner plant.

The new $60 million, 100,000 square-foot plant located near Rochester, N.Y., will be staffed by more than 40 chemical engineers and increases Xerox’s capacity for toner made by the EA process by 175 percent.

Xerox says EA Toner is significantly more environmentally friendly than other toner.

Unlike traditional toner, which is created by physically grinding composite polymeric materials to micron-sized particles, Xerox says EA toner is chemically grown enabling the size, shape and structure of the particles to be precisely controlled. This Xerox-developed technology leads to improved print quality, less toner usage, less toner waste and less energy required for manufacturing and for printing, according to the company.

“Xerox is the world’s largest manufacturer of toner, so we need to do it efficiently,” said Richard Schmachtenberg, vice president of Consumables Development & Manufacturing Group. “The plant is designed for energy efficiency, and is packed with more than 4,000 sensors that track information about temperature, humidity, air flow and other variables.” The plant is also organized into zones that can be separately controlled for the most efficient operation. Depending upon the process being run, whole zones can be shut off when not needed, saving energy costs.

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