TOYOTA SEEKS ZERO-POLLUTION AT ALL PLANTS

TOKYO―The 9th advanced wastewater treatment facility at its plants in Shizuoka Prefecture has just been completed by Toyota Motor Company. A long-standing concern with the need to protect the environment has made Toyota's factories virtually pollution-free and among maybe the cleanest anywhere in the world.

The latest comprehensive wastewater treatment unit is situated next to the famed Higashi-Fuji Technical Center. Built on a valuable 4,200 square meter site, it has a daily capacity of 2,500 tons of wastewater. Test runs are now underway and full-scale operation will start shortly.

Toyota's goal has long been "zero-pollution." But, the variety of effluents produced at major automotive factories defy easy solution. Therefore, a variety of new methods and systems have had to be devised; each of the 9 huge treatment units cleanses different types of wastewater or fights diverse forms of pollution.

Most of the drainage water from Higashi-Fuji Technical Center originates from the system used to cool power facilities and exhaust gas analysis equipment. Therefore, it is of relatively higher purity than the water used in industrial processes at other Toyota plants.

Consequently, a special method is employed to remove grease before separating the water and sludge. The water thus separated is disposed of through a battery of filters as clean effluent. The sludge is condensed and dried for mechanical removal.

Toyota Motor Company constructed a similar comprehensive waste disposal plant last July, which is believed to be the world's largest and most advanced for use by private industry. It was built on a 10,000 square meter site adjacent to the company's Motomachi Plant in Aichi Prefecture, at a cost of ¥1,230 million. The giant "zero-pollution" waste treatment facility can treat and dispose of 150 tons of various industrial wastes and effluents a day.

The company is expected to invest a total of approximately ¥20,000 million by the end of 1976 in a multi-faceted anti-pollution and environmental protection program designed to make its plants virtually pollution-free.