Automaker
Toyota released its 2010 North America Environmental Report highlighting its environmental progress over the last fiscal year, which ended March 2010.
The report is an update on progress toward the goals and targets set in the company's Environmental Action Plan. The EAP helps them focus and prioritize the actions they take to reduce the environmental impact of their products, as well as the operations they employ to build, distribute and sell them.
According to Toyota, 2010 marks the 53rd anniversary of the company doing business in North America and also has been a major year for Toyota globally and in North America, especially in terms of environmental progress. In the coming years, social and environmental issues will be crucial to the auto sector. Currently, there are about three quarters of a billion cars worldwide.
Officials with the company asserted that Toyota is fully committed to sustainability across their operations. In addition to developing technologically advanced, fuel-efficient vehicles, they consider the environmental, social and economic consequences of everything they do. They are proud of their performance over the past year and they will continue to look for ways to reduce their environmental impact and improve their operations, while supporting their dealers, suppliers and community partners in their efforts.
Highlights of the 2010 North America Environmental Report include the following: Roll-out of their 2010 Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV) demonstration program, with more than 150 vehicles being placed with program partners in the U.S. and Canada; Improvement of fuel cell hybrid vehicle (FCHV) technology, while achieving significant cost reductions. Recent modifications have resulted in an estimated range of 431 miles on a single fill. They have planned to bring FCHVs to market in 2015.
The company hopes to achieve reduction in energy consumption at their assembly plants, including a project to eliminate centralized boiler systems and install equipment closer to the painting processes resulting in significantly less energy use. Also bringing down the waste to landfill and an emphasis on reducing material use resulted in a greater reduction in the amount of raw material used than the amount of material recycled at their sales and distribution locations.
Nathesh is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Nathesh's articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Jaclyn Allard
