Sustainability

As part of the Challenge of Establishing a Future Society in Harmony with Nature, Toyota has been collaborating with various individuals in society to expand the circle of harmony with nature activities, including biological diversity conservation, from local to global.

In December 2022, the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework with the common global goal to "halt and reverse biodiversity loss to put nature on a path to recovery by 2030".

To achieve this goal, targets such as 30by30^* have been established within this framework for each country to conserve 30% or more of their terrestrial and inland water areas, and marine and coastal areas.

Toyota has been participating in the 30by30 Alliance for Biodiversity to contribute to the achievement of the 30by30 goal in Japan through our ongoing efforts for harmony with nature at various facilities. In October 2024, Toyota Technical Center Shibetsu was certified as a Nationally Certified Sustainably Managed Natural Sites by the Ministry of the Environment following Toyota Technical Center Shimoyama, Biotope Tsutsumi, Forest of Toyota, and Toyota Mie Miyagawa Forest. These sites will be sequentially registered in the World Database as OECMs.

Toyota will continue efforts to realize a sustainable society in harmony with nature by fully utilizing the technology and know-how that has been developed through various businesses.

As one approach to establishing a recycling-oriented society, we are promoting the use of recycled materials in car interiors. However, we are facing the challenges of price increases and shortages of PET bottles as a raw material.

Therefore, in a world first, we have started internally collecting PET bottles used by employees to have them reborn as recycled fibers for the new Land Cruiser "250" seat fabric.

By having employees wash, separate, and box the bottles themselves, we not only achieve self-sufficiency in procuring high-quality raw material, but we can also establish a circular system built on close cooperation between partner companies, such as recycling companies and fabric suppliers. Using recycled raw materials will allow us to reduce CO2 emissions by about 10% compared to conventional 100% petroleum-derived raw materials.

We continue to promote various initiatives on the path toward carbon neutrality, including using decarbonization technology for production processes and introducing recycling technology for car part reuse. Now, with the addition of recycled materials, we are changing the future of cars at the material level, as well!

To produce happiness for all, Toyota is committed to creating an attractive workplace where employees with wide-ranging skills and values can demonstrate their abilities to the fullest. In line with its health-related philosophy and policy,^*3 Toyota promotes strategic initiatives in collaboration with each workplace and affiliated company and makes constant improvements by reviewing each measure.

In recognition of these efforts, in March 2024, Toyota was recognized as a White 500 enterprise under the Certified Health & Productivity Management Organization Recognition Program (goal of recognizing over 500 organizations for positive policies), which is jointly implemented by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Nippon Kenko Kaigi. This is the seventh consecutive year Toyota has been so recognized.

In addition, as part of its efforts to promote employee health, Toyota is working to provide exercise support to all employees to improve physical fitness and help prevent illness. Toyota was recognized by the Japan Sports Agency as a Sports Yell Company 2024+ for such efforts, which include daily workplace exercise practices, exercise habit awareness-raising through videos and apps, practical skills guidance according to physical fitness, and workplace sports events.

Toyota will continue these efforts to further promote health and productivity management based on the Declaration of Health Commitment by top management. The company recognizes that employees are valuable assets, that the physical and mental health of employees are driving forces behind its good performance, and that happiness for all employees is vital.

Toyota will stop providing paper product catalogs in Japan from 2025 and promote the use of Smart Catalogs at Toyota dealerships nationwide.

We have been providing paper product catalogs for many years, but to further promote SDGs and carbon-neutral initiatives, we will stop producing and printing all paper catalogs for Toyota brand vehicles in January 2025.

Paper product catalogs use approximately 7,000 tons of paper annually and not only consume a large amount of forest resources but also create issues in manufacturing, transportation, storage, and disposal. We have been considering solutions. This change is predicted to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 11,000 tons annually (according to TOYOTA CONIQ Alpha, Inc. research).

In addition, we are gradually introducing Smart Catalogs through digital terminals at Toyota dealerships nationwide to offer customers an even more attractive car selection experience. These Smart Catalogs will use high-definition tablets to provide unique digital content, such as easy-to-understand vehicle feature introductions using video and computer graphics and the ability to compare multiple models side-by-side.

PDF versions of web catalogs will continue to be available on the Toyota product website (toyota.jp).

We will continue working to reduce the environmental impact of our entire supply chain, including at sales sites, and contribute to achieving carbon neutrality.

Toyota was awarded the Gold Prize in PRIDE INDEX for the third year in a row, presented by "work with Pride", one of the volunteer associations supporting the facilitation and establishment of diversity management of sexual minorities such as LGBTQ+.

We consider diversity, equity, and inclusion to be a key element of our business infrastructure and are working to create a welcoming workplace where employees with diverse skills and values, regardless of gender, age, nationality, race, ethnicity, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, marital or family status, can demonstrate their abilities to the fullest and achieve self-fulfillment.