Toyota is ramping up its programme to recover, recycle, and reuse end-of-life vehicles, with the opening of the Toyota Circular Factory at its plant in Burnaston, UK, which makes the Corolla.
When does this all start?
The plan is for the Circular Factory to begin work later this year, and according to Toyota, it “aims to become the centre of excellence for future recycling operations across Europe and worldwide.”
What does a circular factory do?
Essentially, the Toyota Circular Factory will take old cars apart, and divvy up the bits into three categories - parts which can be reused, parts which can be refurbished and reused, and finally the materials which can go to be recycled, be they cloth, plastics, or metal. Crucially, Toyota says that it intends to recycle as much copper, aluminium, steel, and plastic as possible, so as to reduce its reliance on 'virgin' or freshly-mined-and-manufactured material.
How many cars will be recycled?
“We initially anticipate recycling around 10,000 vehicles a year in our UK facility, which will give new life to 120,000 parts, recover 300 tonnes of high purity plastic and 8,200 tonnes of steel - amongst other materials. As a next step for the Toyota Circular Factory concept, we plan to roll out similar operations across Europe. And we're not stopping at our own facilities - we are eager to collaborate with other organisations who share our passion of circularity and commitment to carbon neutrality” said Leon van der Merwe, Vice President of Circular Economy at Toyota Motor Europe.
Toyota reckons that the Circular Factory sets a new benchmark in the industry for responsible recycling and material reuse and will form a cornerstone of the company's plans to reduce its carbon footprint on the manufacturing side and its commitment to ensuring that all of its factories and facilities are carbon-neutral by 2030, with the whole company becoming fully carbon-neutral by 2040.