Toyota Motor Europe is expanding its approach to the reuse and recycling of end-of-life vehicle (ELV) components in Europe. Following the first "Circular Factory" announced in spring 2025 in Burnaston in the UK, the carmaker is now planning a second facility of this kind at its Polish production site in Wałbrzych. Around 20,000 scrap cars per year are to be processed there on an area of some 25,000 square metres. This is twice the initial capacity of 10,000 vehicles per year envisaged for Burnaston.
The company has not disclosed the amount of the investment. According to Toyota, the project represents a further step towards establishing a circular economy model based on the principles of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". The focus is on the systematic dismantling of vehicles to recover components for reuse. Parts such as batteries and wheels are to be assessed for their potential to be refurbished and returned to a second life. A second focus will lie on recycling valuable raw materials such as copper, steel, aluminium and plastics in order to reduce the use of primary materials in the production of new cars.
Poland a "strong potential market" for sourcing ELV
The "Circular Factory" is planned as an extension of the existing Toyota Motor Europe (TME) production plant in Wałbrzych, where key components for hybrid and conventional powertrains are manufactured. Explaining the choice of location, Leon van der Merwe, vice-president of circular economy at Toyota Motor Europe, cited not only the manufacturing infrastructure but also Poland’s "strong market potential" for sourcing end-of-life vehicles, as well as established recycling chains with upstream and downstream processes.
The car group's factory site in Lower Silesia near the Czech border is already integrated with the recycling and waste management sector. In 2008, the trading arm Toyota Tsusho and the German recycling company Scholz AG founded a joint venture specialising in the collection, processing and sale of scrap metals in Wałbrzych, Green Metals Poland.
Beyond Poland, Mr van der Merwe has indicated further steps: "In the coming years, we plan to introduce similar investments in other European markets." He described the "Circular Factory" launched in 2025 in Burnaston as a blueprint for developing circular economy activities. As previously reported, the aim there is to return around 120,000 used components per year to the market and to recycle some 300 tonnes of plastic and 8,200 tonnes of steel and other metals.
TME manages the Japanese automotive group’s sales and production activities in Europe. According to the company, around 15.6 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles are currently on the road across the continent. In 2025 alone, some 1.23 million new cars were sold, corresponding to a market share of 7.2 per cent. Since 1990, the group has invested more than €12bn in its European sites.
