Japan – Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Tsusho Corporation received Japan’s 2013 Prime Minister’s Prize at last week’s 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) Awards to honour their ongoing dedication to sustainability.
The prize, presented by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, recognised in particular the car companies’ jointly-developed system for recycling tungsten.
Toyota was one of the first car makers to respond to the implications of mass production and disposal of vehicles, it was noted. Moreover, Toyota has been at the ‘forefront’ of recycling hybrid vehicle components.
In commending the Toyota companies, Japan’s ministry stated: ‘They have established global pioneering technologies which enable residues other than iron and aluminium to be recovered and used as sound-proofing materials for vehicles, which enable motor magnets in hybrid vehicles that use rare metals to be recovered for new motor magnets.’
The batteries market has perhaps benefited most of all from the companies’ recycling commitment: since 1998, Toyota has been able to recover NiMH batteries from roughly 30 000 cars – equivalent to 80% of all end-of-life hybrid vehicles present in Japan. Until quite recently, these batteries could only be recycled as a raw material for stainless steel.
For more information, visit: www.meti.go.jp
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