Recycling

Development & Design

Recycling

Procurement & Production Environmental Logistics Management Usage

Consistent Actions throughout Development, Production, Sales and Disposal

Organization Enhancement to Help Build an Environmentally Sustainable Society

Kosuke Ikebuchi Executive Vice President and Chairman of Recycling Committee

Kosuke Ikebuchi has worked on production engineering since joining Toyota in 1960. He was involved in the start-up of Toyota’s most advanced plant in Japan, the Tahara Plant, and in the creation of NUMMI, a joint project with GM. He has been Chairman of the Production Environment Committee since 1996, and took up the post of Chairman of the Recycling Committee in June 1999 when he was appointed Executive Vice President.

The Japanese government has designated the year 2000 as “the first year of an environmentally sustainable society” and the momentum is increasing to treat waste disposal and resource issues as issues that must be tackled by the society as a whole. In FY1999, Toyota began developing recycling-related technologies and set out to further strengthen the recycling system throughout the All-Toyota Group, including dealers. The greatest result of this effort is the Toyota Japanese Dealer Environmental Guidelines, which the Toyota National Dealer’s Advisory Council voluntarily created. Moreover, because the 3R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) are important in the construction of a environmentally sustainable society, Toyota proceeded to develop new TSOP and began additional supplying of rebuilt parts. Overseas, Toyota finished building local systems for recycling nickel-metal hydride batteries in preparation for the year 2000 European introduction of the Prius, as it had done in North America in FY1998. In addition, Toyota is considering to establish an automobile recycling research facility in the future, in order to actively adopt itself to an environmentally sustainable society.

Recycling Actions at the Development and Design Stage (1) Firmly establishing prior assessment system for recycling Toyota applied its prior assessment system to all of the eight passenger vehicle series that were either newly introduced or underwent complete redesigns in FY1999. Toyota is expanding the application scope of this system by applying it to three additional vehicle series, and is proceeding to firmly establish this system.

● Vehicle Series that Adopted the FY1999 Prior Assessment System

FunCargo Platz Celica Crown MR-S WiLL Vi 1 bB 1 Estima Dyna 2 e-com 2 Quick Delivery 200 2

Prior assessment of recycling feasibility Substances of Recoverability3 environmental concern ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ ❍ —— ❍ —— ❍ ——

❍

1. New model that utilizes the prior assessment results of the base vehicle series. WiLL Vi and bB use the results of Vitz and FunCargo, respectively. 2. Prior assessment of substances of environmental concern was also performed on Dyna and Quick Delivery 200, both of which are freight vehicles, and e-com, which is an EV commuter. 3. According to the Guidelines for Designs Related to Recycling (selecting materials easy to recycle, structures easy to dismantle, structures easy to extract liquids, etc.), it is checked at the new vehicle design stage.

Analysis of new material composition using an electron microscope Miwako Shionoya (left) of Material Engineering Division I, Kaoru Inoue (middle) and Yuichi Miyake (right) of Material Engineering Division II.

56

Recycling

● Use of RSPP in Components in Various Models

(2) Material selection with consideration to recycling

Vehicle series

Date of Components that use RSPP adoption Dashboard silencer Floor silencer

❍

❍

Caldina

’96. 1

——

❍

Carina

’96. 8

❍

❍

Prius

’97.12

❍

❍

Altezza

’98.10

——

❍

Land Cruiser 100 ’98.11

——

❍

Corona Premio ’96. 1

Toyota has developed new TSOP 1 which can be easily recycled. Compared to the earlier forms of TSOP, new TSOP possesses higher rigidity and superior moldability, and it is approximately 10% lighter. Toyota used the Recycled SoundProofing Products (RSPP)2 made from end-of-life vehicle shredder residue for five vehicle series in FY1999, expanding the application of RSPP to 18 components in 12 vehicle series.

Vitz

’99. 1

❍

❍

FunCargo

’99. 8

❍

❍

Platz

’99. 8

❍

❍

Celica

’99. 9

❍

——

Crown

’99. 9

——

❍

MR-S

’99.10

——

❍

(3) Reducing the usage of substances of environmental concern Toyota achieved its voluntary goal of “reducing the amount of lead used in new models to 1/2 or less of the amount used in 1996” in all 11 vehicle series (including freight vehicles and electric vehicles) introduced into the market in FY1999. Of these, three vehicle series have achieved the stricter goal of “reducing lead usage to 1/3 or less of the amount used in 1996 by 2005.” ● Use of Lead in an Average Passenger Car (Source: Recycling Initiative of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association) Wire harnesses (90g)

● Performance Data of New TSOP (a) Limit of stereoregularity for achieving high PP crystallization Developed material (new TSOP)

(b) Rubber having a molecular structure that produces a high level of crystalline alignment by being compatible with the amorphous PP phase

Crystalline structure of the developed material (TEM3 X1 million)

(c) Interfacial structure control that compensates for the deterioration in physical properties of PP due to the reduction in molecular weight by preventing dislocation between crystals Developed 500 material Current (new TSOP) material (TSOP) 300

2,000

1,000

0

Current material (TSOP) Conventional material (PP)

96 97 98 99 100 PP stereoregularity (%)

Izod impact strength (J/m)

1,500

10nm Machine direction Transverse direction

1. TSOP (Toyota Super Olefin Polymer): A new thermoplastic polymer with excellent strength and flowability, which does not deteriorate even after multiple recycling that Toyota developed 2. RSPP (Recycled Sound-Proofing Products): Sound-proofing material for vehicles, made from the urethane and fibers sorted out from end-of-life vehicle shredder residue. Developed and commercialized at the ASR Recycling Plant jointly operated with Toyota Metal Co., Ltd. 3. TEM: Transmission Electron Microscopy

Printed circuit boards (50g)

Others (240g) Copper radiators (580g)

1996 industry average (2-liter class) Battery cable terminals (290g) Wheel balancers (240g)

Fuel tanks (200g)

100

(Molecular weight → greater) (Better ← flowability)

2,000 Parts from which lead has already been eliminated - Battery cable terminals - Copper heater cores - Copper radiators - High pressure hoses for power steering - Undercoating - Side-protection molding - Wire harnesses - Seat belt G sensors

1,500 1,850 1,000

50% Parts for which lead elimination is being applied

815 * For details on TSOP and RSPP, please see the 1998 Environment Report or visit Toyota’s website at http://www.global.toyota.com

Total Usage 1,850g

Copper heater cores (110g)

● Toyota’s Lead Reduction Status (an example of lead usage in a 2-liter class passenger car)

Lead usage (g/vehicle)

Flex modulus of elasticity (MPa)

2,500

Electrodeposition paint (50g)

500

0

’96

’97

Parts for which lead elimination technologies are being developed

- Fuel tanks - Other engine components - Fuel hoses - Other body parts - Glass ceramic print - Electrodeposited paint - Meter needle balancers - Printed circuit boards - Constant velocity joint grease - Wheel balancers

725

725

’98

’99 (Year)

(Industry average)

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(4) Easy-to-recycle design in the new Crown

● Use of Recycled Materials in the New Crown TSOP (Toyota Super Olefin Polymer) TPO (Thermo Plastic Olefin) RSPP (Recycled Sound-Proofing Products)

(a) New TSOP, adopted for the first time

Recycled PP (Polypropylene)

The new TSOP, which has higher rigidity and superior moldability, is used in the front bumper, rear bumper, and rocker mold for the first time.

(b) Lead usage reduced to 1/2 or less than the 1996 industry average

Lead-free components are used in the radiator, heater core, wire harness covering, battery cable terminals, etc. Lead usage per vehicle has been reduced to 1/2 or less than the 1996 industry average.

● Lead Usage Reduction in the New Crown (g/vehicle) 2,000

1,850 Components with reduced lead usage

1,500

1,000

Radiator Heater core Battery cable terminals Wire harness covering, etc.

685 500

Toyota is developing new recycling technologies jointly with such affiliated companies as Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. In FY1999, Toyota, in conjunction with zero landfill waste activities, steadily increased the amount of materials recycled using these new technologies. Utilizing the new technologies, Toyota recycled 16 tons of urethane resin bumpers, 285 tons of scrap rubber, 415 tons of airbag foundation cloth remnant materials, and 46 tons of triple-layer surface remnant material for instrument panels.

New Recycling Technologies that Enable Reuse of Production Scrap Materials Steady Progress in Scrap Material Recycling To recycle various scrap materials generated during production processes,

● System for Sorting Multi-Layer Plastic Coverings Pneumatic Pneumatic Separating / Crushing process sorting process rinsing process sorting process PVC (skin layer)

Scrap from instrument panel cover

Plastic sorting process Hydro cyclone

Air

Air

Crusher

0

1996 industry average

New Crown

Pneumatic sorting process

Residue Pneumatic PP foam sorting process PP (barrier layer)

Residue dehydrator Mixing tank

Metal detection

Residue Blower Cleaning separator

Pump

Pump Metal scrap

PVC

PP

Direction of plastic * For details on the new recycling technologies, please see the 1998 and 1999 Environmental Reports or visit Toyota’s website at http://www.global.toyota.com

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Recycling

In European countries where Toyota plans to introduce the Prius in the autumn of 2000, Toyota is building battery recycling systems that are similar to those already built in Japan and North America. In Europe, Toyota’s efforts are being driven by TMME* and the differences in the laws and regulations among the various countries make its efforts more complicated, resulting in different progress levels in each country. As a result, in FY1999, recycling systems were almost completed in Germany, Sweden and Denmark.

(10 thousand units/year)

44.7 40

36.1

38.4

30

20

0

● Airbag Inflator Collection and Processing System End user

(2) Building Prius battery recycling systems in Europe

50

10

Transfer to appropriate processing company and cost responsibility

Deployment process

Outsourcing of processing to appropriate processing company

Deployment process

Appropriate dismantling of inflators and transfer to the next process

Appropriate dismantling of inflators and transfer to the next process

Dealers and maintenance shop facilities

In operating the system built in 1998 for recycling the nickel-metal hydride batteries used in the Prius, Toyota recovered all end-of-life batteries, including some that had been flooded in underground parking lots due to heavy rain, albeit a small number.

● Trend in Collecting and Recycling of Bumpers

Centralized treatment

’97

’98

’99 (FY)

(5) Addition of rebuilt parts supply In cooperation with related manufacturers, Toyota shipped some 28,000 automatic transmissions and approximately 400 turbo chargers as rebuilt parts in FY1999. In June, it began additional supplying of rebuilt power steering units, and has so far shipped about 9,100 of these. Moreover, Toyota began selling automatic torque converters in April 2000.

Processing facility

(1) Recovery results of the Japanese nickel-metal hydride batteries recycling system

the inflators are removed from the airbag equipment of the driver’s seat and the front passenger seat, and are processed at a processing facility after going through one of the 21 locations in the collection network nationwide. The first two years of this system are considered as a trial period, and the system will be evaluated from various angles. The number of companies registered to use the system in preparation for its full operation reached 800 by the end of FY1999.

Dismantler

Recycling Actions Being Taken in the Distribution Stage

JAMA system

(3) Participation in building a system for collecting and processing airbag inflators Toyota participated in a project to build a system for collecting and processing end-of-life automobile airbags with the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) and the Japan Automotive Parts Association (JAPA); the system was completed in October 1999. In this collection and processing system,

(4) System for collecting and recycling bumpers Toyota has built a system for collecting and recycling bumpers (made of TSOP and polypropylene) replaced at dealers. In FY1999, Toyota collected and recycled 447,000 bumpers (50% of those generated at all dealers).

* TMME N. V. Toyota Motor Europe, Marketing & Engineering S. A. (Belgium): Toyota’s European business headquartered in Belgium. It handles Marketing and R&D.

59

Initiatives at Dealers (1) Planning and developing the Toyota Japanese Dealer Environmental Guidelines (a) Implemented at 308 vehicle dealers In November 1999, being aware of the society’s environmental needs, the Toyota National Dealer’s Advisory Council (TNDAC) developed the Toyota Japanese Dealer Environmental Guidelines as the guideline for dealer’s environmental initiatives. The most distinguishing characteristic of these guidelines is that TNDAC establishes the environmental guidelines and that each dealer voluntarily declares its commitment to environmental actions and implements them. It is also notable that the contents of the guidelines conform to the concept of ISO 14001. The guidelines specify the actions that all dealers are expected to take by 2002, as well as the building of an internal environmental management system, etc. toward achievement of their goal. The action items encompass six areas (processing of waste oil and disposed parts, processing wastewater from ser-

vice shops, etc., processing end-of-life vehicles, recovering refrigerant, processing airbags, and processing general waste generated from business operations), with further details and achievement time-lines clearly specified. Meanwhile, the environmental management system specifies the building of appropriate organizations; assigns management responsibility; and proposes both the building of an effective system through the establishment of a cross- divisional environmental committee, and the introduction of an internal audit system. Furthermore, systems similar to this are also being planned for Toyota Home dealers, Parts distributors, L & F dealers, and Rental & lease dealers.

(b) Toyota’s support of dealer’s initiatives Toyota is providing active support to dealers in their quest to achieve the goals of the guidelines by 2002. To encourage the implementation of the actions, Toyota has explained the environmental management system and specific practical business handling necessary through 17 seminars nationwide and satellite broadcasting. Toyota is proceeding with support to ensure that the dealers achieve their goals, for example, has begun publishing a seasonal bulletin, “Toyota Eco Communication News” in April 2000.

● Toyota Dealers Nationwide Toyota dealers Car dealers

Toyopet dealers Corolla dealers Netz dealers Vista dealers Parts distributors

Non-automotive dealers

L & F dealers Toyota Home dealers Rental/lease dealers Toyota’s Seminar on the Environmental Guideline

● Environment Management System and Responsible Managers (Sales Div. GM or equivalent)

End-of-life Vehicle Disposition Manager

Service Shop Liaison Manager Person in charge for the Guidelines

Environment Committee

Branch

Top

(Used Vehicle Div. GM or equivalent)

Environmental Manager

(Service Div. GM or equivalent)

(at the Environment Committee Secretariat)

General Industrial Waste Materials Manager (General Administration Div. GM or equivalent)

Audit Report

Internal Auditing Manager

(Administrative Div. GM or equivalent)

60

Auditing branch

Seasonal bulletin “Toyota Eco Communication News” for dealers

Recycling

(2) Used parts sale on a trial basis Toyota Aichi Parts Distributor Co., Ltd. began selling used parts on a trial basis in order to evaluate the possibility of effective utilization of resources by promoting the reuse of used automobile parts. Processing of used parts, mainly the exterior parts of Toyota’s major brands of cars, is outsourced to cooperative dismantlers. After going through a thorough quality check at parts distributors, these parts were sold through Toyota dealers, mainly in Aichi Prefecture under the brand name “Ecolo Parts” since February 2000. Based on the lessons learned from this trial, Toyota plans to develop a future scheme.

Recycling of Automobiles at Disposal Stage (1) Increased production of recycled sound-proofing products (RSPP) The ASR 1 Recycling Plant, jointly funded by Toyota and Toyota Metal Co., Ltd.2 is the world’s first dry-sorting recycling facility that recycles shredder residue generated from 15,000 end-oflife vehicles/month. This plant has achieved an 88% recovery rate, exceeding the government’s goal for 2002. RSPP is an automobile sound-proofing material that is produced from the urethane and fibers sorted out from endof-life vehicle shredder residue. Because of RSPP’s excellent sound-proofing per-

formance, Toyota has been expanding its application to new vehicle series and series that undergo complete redesigns. As a result, since January 1999, the plant has been running two full shifts a day.

● Trends in Usage Amount of RSPP Raw Materials (Urethane and Fibers) (tons) 2,600 2,480

2,400 2,200 2,000 1,800 1,600 1,400 1,200 1,000 800

680

600 400 200 0

114

135

’96

’97

’98

’99 (FY)

● Shredder Residue Utilization World's first (dry) separation/sorting and recycling technology Crushing/ granulation

Reclaiming technologies

▼ Rotary sieving Inventory of Ecolo Parts at Toyota Aichi Parts Distributor Co., Ltd. (Nukata Parts Center)

Vibration sorting

Glass

Reinforcement for tiles

▼ Iron

Magnetic sorting

Iron

▼ Non-ferrous metal sorting

Vibration sorting

Copper

▼ Air sorting

Urethane foam & fiber

Copper (Reinforcement for cast aluminum parts) New soundproofing material that has good balance between sound insulating and sound absorbing characteristics

Ecolo Parts certification sticker 1. ASR (Automobile Shredder Residue): Non-metallic residual materials generated when end-of-life vehicles are shredded. These consist mainly of polymeric materials. 2. Toyota Metal Co., Ltd.: Toyota affiliated company that collects shredder and metal

Combustion technology

Resins with good quality control are utilized as alternative fuel to kerosene

Melting/solidification technologies Processing technologies for controlling the leaching of lead from the residue and for reducing volume (down to one-fifth)

High value-added reclaiming technologies Technologies, such as polymer molding, for recycling most of the residue used to improve vehicle recovery rates

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(2) Other recycling results In addition to the production of RSPP from shredder residue and the recycling of copper and glass, Toyota utilized 400 tons/month of sorted-out resins and rubber as alternative fuels to kerosene in FY1999.

● Trend in Copper Recycling (tons/year) 300

234 200

100

62 14 0

’97

’98

’99 (FY)

● Trend in Glass Recycling (tons/year) 100

61 50

(3) Collaboration and cooperation in recycling Toyota has been a core member of JAMA’s project for developing ASR energy recovery technologies. In FY1999, the results of JAMA’s special research subject “Research and Development of Technologies for Volume Reduction, Solidification, and Dry-Distillation Gasification” were summarized. In terms of technology development, sorting, volume reduction and solidification technologies are establishing the design requirements necessary for the commercialization of vehicle shredder residue solidifying systems. Moreover, the feasibility of a drydistillation gasification technology for producing solids from shredder residue was demonstrated for the first time in the world. The related know-how and technical information as a type of dry-distillation gasification technology were disclosed to interested parties both in Japan and overseas. Toyota also implemented basic research related to the utilization of drydistillation residue. It was confirmed by converting dry-distillation residue into carbon and cement raw materials, the feasibility of achieving the 95% recoverability rate for end-of-life vehicles that is the 2015 target of the recycling initiative by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

37 24

0

’97

’98

’99 (FY)

Experimental Plant for Dry-Distillation Gasification Technology

62

Recycling

■ Dealer Initiatives (1) —— Toyota National Dealer’s Advisory Council, Environmental Issues Study Group

Dealers Develop Guidelines with Voluntarily Declaration Committing to Active Environmental Initiatives Dealers’ Voluntary Actions The Toyota Japanese Dealer Environmental Guidelines is not a system in which the manufacturer establishes environmental standards and checks on dealer compliance. The most distinguishing characteristic of this guideline is the adoption by the 308 dealers of the minimum guiding principle of the “self-declaration” system, which calls for each dealer to decide and implement environmental measures on its own, while being aware of its position as a leading corporation in its respective local community. In March 1999, the Toyota National Dealer’s Advisory Council (TNDAC) established within its organization, the Environmental Issues Study Group consisting of seven dealer presidents who are directors of TNDAC, in order to address environmental initiatives that will become increasingly important in the future. Based on the recognition that, in the future, actions that take into consideration the entire lifecycle of automobiles will increasingly impact the sales stage as well, efforts began in June toward the development of a guideline. The group established the Environmental Issues Technical Committee, a working-level organization, that consists of technical members and considers specific measures. Both the Study Group and the Technical Committee repeated focused discussions toward obtaining approval at the November TNDAC board meeting. After approval had been obtained, the Chairman of the board made a declaration in January 2000, at a regularly scheduled TNDAC general meeting, saying, “Let’s become the No. 1 company in environmental initiatives in each region!,” putting environmental actions in motion.

Discussion in the Study Group

Be the Model in Local Communities as the Leading Corporation! One of the issues debated was what levels achievement goals for all 308 companies should be, based on the current status of each company. In order for the target to be effective and meaningful, it was necessary for it to be within reach in terms of the current status but also sufficiently ambitious. The bottom line was to achieve “a level and content that we can proudly present to our customers.” Chairman Koji Mukai (President of Toyota Corolla Kagawa Co., Ltd.) of the Environmental Issues Study Group recalls the following: “Toyota dealers must become the leading corporations in local communities in terms of environmental initiatives as well. As a matter of fact, most of the top management in dealers felt that they must lead the way in taking action as industry leaders.”

Toyota Japanese Dealer Environmental Guidelines

Taking Effective Actions There were some members who felt that acquiring ISO 14001 certification should be a goal when building an environmental management system. However, in the end, everyone agreed that it was more important for all dealers to ensure target achievements and be in a position to acquire ISO 14001 certification anytime if necessary, rather than making the acquisition of ISO 14001 certification itself a goal. One of the major characteristics of the guideline is the fact that it specifies the levels to be achieved and the timing required for their achievement. In contrast, ISO 14001 leaves these criteria as items to be set voluntarily.

63

■ Dealer Initiatives (2) —— Toyota Motor Hyogo Co., Ltd.

Acquiring ISO 14001 Certification by Taking Proactive and Innovative Voluntary Actions Acquiring Certification at the Headquarters and Three Sales Outlets In March 2000, Toyota Motor Hyogo Co., Ltd. acquired ISO 14001 certification at its Takarazuka, Konan and Akashi sales outlets, as well as at the headquarters function that manages these three outlets. Since its founding, Toyota Motor Hyogo has been making efforts to contribute to local communities through automobile sales and service under the guiding philosophy of “Through Good Things, Achieve Better Things.” As part of the efforts based on this philosophy, the company began preparing in August 1999 to acquire ISO 14001 certification. This was initiated by President Hiroshi Takigawa, who believed that environmental actions should be taken based on innovative and proactive attitudes and beliefs, rather than on the trend of the times or societal demands.

Assessment for ISO 14001

all employees, the company published its environmental policy in the company bulletin and distributed pocket-size environmental policy handbooks to all employees.

President Hiroshi Takigawa of Toyota Motor Hyogo commenting on environmental actions Pocket-size environmental policy handbook

At sales outlets, large bulletin boards clearly identifying the areas of management focus were installed, and the company’s efforts toward ISO 14001 were declared to customers through a signboard located near the front entrance to the showrooms. One of the great benefits reaped in the process of working toward certification was the understanding that “doing something ordinary in the proper way” can be surprisingly difficult. For example, many basic questions arose, such as “What does it mean to ‘properly’ dispose of waste?” From there, the criteria for reevaluation and verification of standards and evaluation results, and check functions, etc. necessary for “proper procedures” were established. As a result, the process became clear, and working toward ISO helped with task allocation and responsibility clarification.

As Part of Voluntary Community Services After the decision was made to work toward certification, the company quickly began working on developing an environmental policy, established “Environmentally Friendly Automobile Dealer” as the basic company-wide slogan, and declared that it would continuously work on preserving and improving the environment. In order to ensure the commitment of

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Slogan toward acquiring ISO 14001 Certification

Acquiring Certification is Only the Starting Point The company considers the acquiring of ISO certification to be only the start of its environmental initiatives, and not the ultimate goal. Therefore, it is important for all of its employees to be sensitive to environmental issues. In the future the company considers to put company-wide efforts to acquiring the certification. President Takigawa says, “Although our company had been taking voluntary environmental initiatives for a long time, we began our efforts to win ISO certification without knowing much about it. We had actually hoped that acquiring the certification might produce some auxiliary benefits to our company’s daily work. The process was often difficult, with us taking two steps forward and one step backward. However, taking voluntary action and failing is very different from learning from someone else’s mistake. We plan to proceed with efforts to win certification on a company-wide basis by utilizing the know-how we have accumulated, and hope to contribute to local communities as much as possible by being an Environmentally Friendly Automobile Dealer.”

Recycling

■ Dealer Initiatives (3) —— Toyota Corolla Osaka Co., Ltd.

Campaign to Spread Circle of Environmental Preservation to Local Communities Deploying the Eco Corolla Campaign in Local Communities

Next Goal is Acquiring ISO 14001 Certification

Based on the recognition that it has made a contribution to environmentally sustainable society as an automobile dealer but has also generated substances of environmental concern, Toyota Corolla Osaka Co. Ltd. has been working on environmental preservation activities under the leadership of President Saijuro Maitani. Based on the philosophy of “Treating the Environment Carefully,” the company opened in January 1999 the ECO Flower Expo Shop which also has a gardening shop. At the same time, the company began the Eco Corolla Campaign. It signs up interested customers as Eco Corolla members, and the money collected is donated as an environment fund to The National Trust. Toyota Corolla Osaka installed donation boxes at all of its sales outlets and holds charity flea markets with the cooperation of Eco Corolla members. In one year, some 5,500 customers donated money.

In the spring of 1999, the company decided to work towards acquiring ISO 14001 certification, and in June established the EMS Committee consisting of four full-time staff members as core members. It then began company-wide efforts such as creating an EMS training manual and proceeded to further educate all employees in affected areas. Of the seven items set up as environmental objectives and targets, electricity usage reduction caused an environmental dilemma. That is, a newly introduced facility that was designed to take environmental issues into consideration turned out to increase electricity usage. In order to countermeasure this phenomenon, stricter energy and electricity conservation measures were implemented one after another. For example, a survey was conducted to determine which floor areas really needed fluorescent light bulbs and non-essential ones were removed. In March 2000, an 18.5% reduction, which more than substantially exceeded the original target of 5%, was attained, achieving an energy savings of approximately 150,000 yen/month. The deployment of the Eco Corolla Campaign was incorporated into the environmental objectives and targets. Toyota Corolla Osaka was able to sign up more than 600 members, which was 1.5 times the original target for between December 1999 and March 2000.

ECO Flower Expo Shop with gardening shop

Charity Flea Market held in cooperation with Eco Corolla Members

President Saijuro Maitani of Toyota Corolla Osaka commenting on environmental actions

Dealer that Helps Ecological Activities in Local Communities Toyota Corolla Osaka, which acquired ISO 14001 certification in March 2000, evaluates that working on certification also had significant effects on increasing the efficiency of daily tasks. In the future, the company hopes to transfer the accumulated know-how to other sales outlets and use it to enhance environmental initiatives and improve business operation efficiency. President Maitani says, “Three years ago, we began a project called ‘Committee for Building a Hope-Filled 21st Century.’ This committee consists of employees, mainly young ones, to honestly look at the company’s problems and work on solving them. I believe this bottom-up corporate culture became a major force in helping individual employees take voluntary actions toward ISO certification. I always tell our employees that it is important for everyone to consider ways to improve outcomes and take the necessary steps, even if actions taken earlier have produced unfavorable results. The key point of our efforts related to ISO is also continuous improvement, and our company will try to continue making these improvements.”

Eco Corolla Campaign materials

65