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Toyota Says “Circular Factory.” We Say Clever Junkyard.
Toyota Motor Europe has announced the first Toyota Circular Factory (TCF), a facility that will process used vehicles at the end of their service life, stripping them to remanufacture parts and recycle the raw materials.
In other words, a junkyard with benefits.
The first TCF will open in Burnaston, England, where, starting in the third quarter of 2025, used vehicles will be broken down and the parts validated. Parts that can be rebuilt and put back into service will go to retailers and distributors, while copper, steel, plastic, and aluminum will be recycled.
Toyota Motors Europe Vice President of Circular Economy, Leon van der Merwe, is eager to get the UK operations started and lead the way in Europe. “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, among other materials,” said van der Merwe. “As a next step, 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 for circularity and commitment to carbon neutrality.”
The Toyota Circular Factory initiative is part of the company’s plan to reduce emissions on its way to a 100 percent CO2 reduction across its European product line-up by 2035. Toyota has also recently taken steps to keep its aging collector vehicles running properly by reintroducing out-of-produciton parts. Toyota didn’t mention how many models it plans to include in its initial European Toyota Circular Factory, but perhaps it can one day include some collector models and help owners and restorers keep Land Cruisers and Supras on the road.
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Many of us here at Hagerty are regulars at our local wrecking yards. Picking our own parts has helped us OEM+ our project cars and save money along the way. However, we know that finding parts often comes down to luck. Many usable, hard-to-find bits have been scrapped because the person looking for them was at the wrong yard at the wrong time. We don’t think wrecking yards are going to go away anytime soon, so we’re glad Toyota is stepping up to get used parts into the supply line.
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With recent quality it looks like they are speeding up the cycle.
That Toyota van, I remember those. My parents had one. It was a fun and slow vehicle for our cross country family vacations.
This corporate junkyard idea is interesting.
A step in the right direction at least. We all have to recycle but only about 9% actually finds it’s way back to being reused while the rest ends up in the land fill. When some years ago I was told there was no longer a need to sort I knew the gig was pretty much up. Under 10% is a less than acceptable figure even though some areas do better. Any genuine effort is a a ‘good’ in my book.
Agree. I hope the O.E.M.s will tackle this with more gusto than the current operators do.
This is a brilliant concept. It’s a shame that so much recyclable material just gets wasted in a “crusher style “ recycling yard. Aluminum is (should be) the big winner in this case. It takes ten times the energy to create aluminum from bauxite ore than it takes to recycle aluminum metal. Hope this attitude catches on !
Seems more like a typical dismantling operation than a “junkyard’”