Toyota Motor Receives EPA Award for Eliminating Hazardous Waste

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana Inc., received an award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for voluntarily eliminating 1.7 million pounds a year of hazardous waste from its manufacturing process. Since joining EPA’s National Partnership for Environmental Priorities Program in April 2004, Toyota has identified its purge solvent and fuel tank primer as two areas for waste minimization.
After some testing and innovation, the company was eventually able to reduce its purge solvent waste by more than 50 percent – from 6.60 to 3.02 pounds per vehicle. The annual reduction of over 1.3 million pounds of hazardous solvent waste and 400,000 pounds of barium reduction from fuel tank primer has helped Toyota become more environmentally aware and adopt a resource conservation ethic. The results have included less waste, more recycling and more environment-friendly products for the manufacturer.
This voluntary program, created by the EPA, is designed to reduce 30 highly toxic, priority chemicals found in the nations’ hazardous waste by 50 percent before the end of this year, compared with amounts generated in 1991.