STRATEGY
importance of water ,” Albert explains . Indeed , one of the reasons that Tilburg was chosen for the FUJIFILM campus was its abundance of clean water . “ We are using water in our production processes and when we have to send it to the water purification plant . And we realise if we could carefully look at the best way to treat the water , then maybe we could be the best to treat it .”
The success of the wind turbines prompted a wider look at sustainability at Tilburg , specifically at the outsourcing of water purification . FUJIFILM contacted neighbouring companies and discovered that the combination of several waste streams could be treated more efficiently than the municipality would do for all the water in the area .
“ So then we started to build the water purification plant with three neighbouring companies ,” Albert says .
The water purification plant , operational from 2016 , was another first for the area , and in fact was the first in the Netherlands . Located on FUJIFILM ’ s premises , it is over 3,000 square metres in size and can purify 10 million litres of processed water a day .
The collaborative approach is beneficial for all the companies in many ways – as partnerships in sustainability often are . If one of the companies leaves the area or ceases business , the water purification plant survives and continues to benefit the area as the other companies remain .
Circular manufacturing : The future of sustainability The next steps for sustainability at Tilburg are in motion and the focus is on circularity .
“ After visiting the factories of FUJIFILM Business Innovation in Japan and observing the remanufacturing process , it was clear for me that this is the way to preserve a lot of scarce raw materials and to prevent waste ,” says Albert .
FUJIFILM has been reusing toner cartridges in Japan since the 1990s – they are disassembled , cleaned and inspected after collection . Now , thanks to a new circular manufacturing centre in Tilburg , this is the practice in Europe too .
“ Other than Scope 3 emissions , our manufacturing produces the most CO2 emissions ,” explained Mario Lavizzari , Project Leader ESG Europe and Deputy Head of Business Support , FUJIFILM Europe GmbH .
“ Our other buildings aren ’ t as carbon intensive , so we are focussing on locations like Tilburg – larger manufacturing facilities with more buildings . And we ’ re on track to hit our sustainability targets and are expanding sustainability initiatives .”
FUJIFILM ’ s foundations are in adapting and it is clear that the company is continuing to adapt both in business and sustainability strategy . After all , it has been incredibly successful so far .
116 August 2024