Toyota Sustainable Plant Achieves Carbon Neutrality in Japan

Toyota’s Tahara facility has been making Toyota vehicles since January 1979. The plant has taken several steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle production, focusing on emissions generated during production at the site.

Toyota aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and uses sustainable manufacturing methods worldwide. The Tahara plant has approximately 9,000 employees and covers 4.03 square kilometres, making it one of Toyota’s biggest production sites in Japan.

European operations and targets

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Europe plans to achieve full carbon neutrality by 2040 and aims for all its owned facilities to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

In 2025, Toyota set up the Toyota Circular Factory system at its Burnaston plant in Derbyshire, UK, to process end-of-life vehicles.

This system focuses on three main areas: reusable parts, remanufactured items and recyclable materials.

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Leon van der Merwe, Toyota Motor Europe's Vice President of Circular Economy, says: "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."

Circular manufacturing approaches

Leon continues: "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."

A kindred spirit can be found at electric carmaker Polestar, which has reduced emissions per vehicle sold by 31% since 2020. The Swedish company aims to make a net-zero car without offsets by 2035.

Polestar says its 31% drop in emissions comes from using more renewable energy in battery production and manufacturing.

Toyota’s use of wind turbines and solar panels suggests it is taking a similar approach. Five wind turbines were added to the Tahara factory in 2023, each 145 meters tall, making them some of the tallest in Japan. Toyota then installed approximately 1,200 solar panels around the test track which can generate 530kW, with plans for more to be installed on the car park in the future. 

The company also worked to reduce emissions during vehicle manufacturing by using clean-burning hydrogen and energy-efficiency measures. 

Industry emissions reduction

According to a report from the World Economic Forum in collaboration with McKinsey: "A large proportion of automotive material carbon emissions could be abated by 2030 at no net-cost increase. Many key technologies and sustainability solutions can be implemented today."

The automotive industry is still looking for ways to cut manufacturing emissions. Toyota’s Tahara plant demonstrates how renewable energy can be integrated into existing factories.

Volvo is joining the journey towards climate-neutral energy by kick-starting the production of its fully electric ES90 in late 2025.