Toyota drives recycling mission

Car giant Toyota is setting up a centre of excellence in the UK to maximise the recycling of end-of-life vehicles.

The Toyota Circular Factory, at Toyota Motor Europe’s (TME) manufacturing plant at Burnaston in Derbyshire, will begin activities in the third quarter of this year. TME says it will become a centre for future recycling operations across Europe and worldwide.

The initiative will be implemented alongside Burnaston’s principal activity of producing Toyota Corolla vehicles.

The factory will process vehicles at the end of their life to maximise the environmental benefits of recycling, repurposing and remanufacturing.

Reuse and remanufacture

Toyota Circular Factory is the name given to TME’s overall recycling activities which are focussed around three key areas: reusable parts, commodity items that can be remanufactured and materials that can be recycled.

Reusable parts will be reintroduced into the market through retailers or parts distributors. Commodity items such as batteries and wheels will be assessed for their potential for further use.

Toyota also intends to recycle raw materials such as copper, aluminium, steel and plastic. These materials would then replace virgin materials where possible in the production of new parts for new vehicles.

TME says it expects to recycle around 10 000 vehicles a year in Burnaston, giving new life to 120 000 parts while recovering 300 tonnes of high purity plastic and 8 200 tonnes of steel.

Europe roll-out

‘As a next step for the Toyota Circular Factory concept, we plan to roll out similar operations across Europe,’ says Leon van der Merwe, vp of circular economy for TME. ‘We are eager to collaborate with other organisations who share our passion of circularity and commitment to carbon neutrality.’

TME is committed to being fully carbon neutral by 2040 and to achieve carbon neutrality in all its owned facilities 2030. By 2035, Toyota plans to have 100% CO2 reduction across its European product line-up.