TOYOTA CREATES WORLD'S FIRST TECHNOLOGY FOR
HIGH VOLUME RECYCLING OF PAINT

Tokyo―TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION announced today that it has developed a unique technology for recycling paint that does not stick to the car body during the painting process. This technology now makes possible the full-scale recycling of such unapplied paint for use in underbody coatings on various Toyota models―another success in Toyota's continual efforts to conserve resources.

The conventional process for recovering unapplied paint utilizes a water sprinkler located under the painting booth, collecting the paint in a holding pond. Recycling has been very difficult, however, due to the paint's tackiness, which attracts contaminating foreign matter, and the large amount of moisture. Such paint is usually burned as a heat source instead.

Toyota approaches the recycling of unapplied paint in a unique way. By adding an inorganic dispersion agent to the holding pond, the paint's tackiness is reduced and foreign materials no longer adhere to the paint. After collecting the contaminant-free paint from the holding pond by pump, the moisture is removed with a centrifugal dehydrator. The resulting paint residue is dried and ground into a powder for easier recycling. Toyota has also developed a new technology for use in the pulverization process, making high volume recycling possible.

The finely grained paint powder resulting from the recovery process is currently being used as an additive in a corrosion-resistant paint applied to the underbodies of the Corona Premio, Scepter Sedan, Caldina, Camry, Vista, and Windom models. Compared to coatings that use calcium carbonate as an additive, the new coating using recycled paint material is both more resistant to chipping and lighter in weight, increasing underbody protection and reducing total body weight.