In an age where convenience has become a mindless lifestyle, increasing resource consumption poses a real threat on the environment. More than ever, resource scarcity has become a widely debated topic, and an essential part of environmental conservation efforts.
Shifting towards greener manufacturing practices is no longer just about saving energy or reducing greenhouse gas emissions. For us at Toyota, our efforts at going green are stringently implemented at each step of the manufacturing process.
To minimize our waste footprint, one such measure we have adopted is that of extending the life of packaging materials in production and logistics. At our Indonesian plant, PT. Toyota-Astra Motor (TAM), materials that would once have ended up as garbage in landfills are now recycled.
Wood and cardboard packaging from suppliers, in particular, are carefully sorted – these are either sent back to suppliers for reuse, or recycled and given a new lease of life as product packaging for our products.
With these efforts, the annual garbage volume at this plant alone has been reduced by 1.311 cubic metres. This initiative has also allowed the plant to save over USD 158,000 per year in packing costs as well.
For the past 40 years, Toyota has been a leader in resource management and green technologies. In 2011, Toyota announced a new global vision that stressed upon the importance of “respect for the planet.” Based on its philosophy and policies, the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 was formulated as our first long-term blueprint for environmental initiatives. As we push towards the challenges outlined in the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050, we will continually search for ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle. With the enhancement of our Toyota Green Purchasing Guideline which we introduced to all our Asia Pacific affiliates, Toyota will continue to strengthen sustainable practices with suppliers and affiliates worldwide. The ultimate aim is for our efforts to culminate in a circular economy, where we establish a fully zero waste, recycling-based society.