Success story: Toyota vehicle manufacturing facility in Altona Victoria

As a regular reporter to the NPI, Toyota Motor Corporation has introduced several innovative technological and management solutions in recent years to help reduce pollutant emissions.

TVOCs emission reduction

A significant improvement in total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) emissions has been achieved with the introduction of cartridge-based robots in the Altona paint shop topcoat line. The articulated robots represent world best practice in car painting technology. By maintaining a correct distance to the vehicle body at all times and by using dedicated refillable cartridges for each different colour, it has been possible to reduce cleaning solvent use in the process by up to 75 per cent. It has also improved the quality of the finish. Toyota has just introduced the same technology in the primer painting stage.

Fuel consumption reduction

In an effort to reduce gas consumption at the engine foundry, Toyota has installed a new holding furnace for their high-pressure engine block casting machine. This furnace allows for the delivery of molten aluminium by road transport straight from the smelter, negating the need to re-melt solid ingots. This has resulted in significant energy savings, which has led to reduced NPI emissions associated with gas combustion. Scraps from the process can also be melted which reduces waste generated.

Chemical substance management system

Toyota has introduced a chemical substance management system to control the amount and variety of chemicals used. Every chemical used on the site is subject to approval, being checked against an internal list of over 700 controlled substances. Any chemical containing substances on the NPI list are recorded, so that usage and emission of the chemical can be tracked and included as part of the annual reporting process.

Use of leading technology

Toyota is committed to reducing the environmental impact of operations through the use of leading technology. This includes commissioning a new bumper bar painting facility in 2006 that will dramatically reduce TVOC emissions by using water based paint technology.

In addition the company continues to set stringent and challenging targets to reduce energy consumption and to minimise waste in line with the Toyota philosophy of 'Kaizen' or continuous improvement.

More information about Toyota's environmental management

For further information visit the Toyota web site www.environment.toyota.com.au