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Waste reduction is a primary concern at the Toyota Motor
Manufacturing, Kentucky, facility. Each year, we get better
at producing less waste. And each year, we do a better job
of recycling the waste we do generate. Our responsibility
is to make sure that less and less waste is headed to the
landfill and is instead reused in the manufacturing process.
A prime example of this philosophy is the recycling of steel.
Our plant uses an intricate system that turns scrap steel
from the stamping process into reusable product. Nearly all
of the discarded steel used in the manufacturing process is
recycled or reused.
Scrap steel — in the form of 330-pound cubes —
is returned to the mill and is eventually put back into the
production process as steel coils.
Here is a good example of reusing excess steel. When doors
are made in the stamping process the steel from the window
area is left over. These squares of top-quality steel are
sent to sub-suppliers, who in turn use our steel as their
raw material. From this steel, the suppliers make internal
structural pieces for the vehicles made at the Kentucky plant.
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