Toyota Motor Europe has announced the launch of a new circular factory in Walbrzych, Poland, designed to scale the company's capacity to process end-of-life vehicles and advance its circular economy strategy.

According to ESG Today, the facility is expected to process close to 20,000 end-of-life vehicles annually, facilitating the recovery and recycling of key components including batteries and wheels. Materials such as copper, steel, aluminium and plastics will be recovered and reused in the production of new vehicles.

The investment marks Toyota's second circular factory in Europe, following the launch of its first circular facility in the UK, which has an initial capacity to recycle around 10,000 cars annually.

The company said the investment enhances its strategy to develop a circular economy model based on the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle, lowering demand for carbon-intensive raw materials and reducing emissions across its operations.

Toyota has set a goal to achieve carbon neutrality across its entire European business by 2040. The Poland facility represents a tangible step towards embedding circularity into the company's manufacturing and supply chain infrastructure.

Leon van der Merwe, vice president of Circular Economy at Toyota Motor Europe, said: "We selected Poland due to the strong market potential to source End-Of-Life vehicles, recycling upstream and downstream and the presence of our established manufacturing infrastructure. In the coming years we plan to introduce similar investments in other European markets."

The announcement follows a broader industry shift towards closed-loop production models, as automotive manufacturers face increasing pressure to reduce reliance on virgin raw materials and meet tightening European emissions and sustainability regulations.

Discover the full details of Toyota Motor Europe's circular factory investment.