Toyota South Africa Sustainability Report 2008 - Automotiveonline ...

Sustainability Report_14-10-2008:Layout 1 10/14/08 2:45 PM Page 18
Substances of Concern
PAINT LINE VOC (g/m 2 )
Toyota has 472 substances that are totally banned from use in any of its operations or
products. Included in this are lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium which
are substances banned by the European Union (EU) End of Life Vehicle Directive
(2000/53/EC). These substances can have significantly negative health and
environmental consequences. No banned substances have been used by Toyota South
Africa or our suppliers in the past two years, and this has been confirmed through audits.
g/m 2
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
95.05
84.42
77.92
43.23 42.98
Several international companies have developed systems to collect and disseminate
data on environmental releases and transfers of toxic chemicals from industrial facilities.
These systems are known as Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR). Although
such systems do not yet exist in South Africa, Toyota has begun monitoring the use of
toluene and xylene, which are PRTR chemicals found in paints and solvents.
30
20
10
0
FY’04 FY’05 Apr 06 - Jun 06 FY’06 FY’07
PAINT LINE 2: SOLVENT BASED
PAINT LINE 3: WATER BASED
Toluene is a volatile organic compound, and xylene is an aromatic hydrocarbon, both of
which have significant hazardous properties. Future plans include the reduction of the
use of toluene and xylene.
Atmospheric Quality
it was decommissioned.When the VOC reduction programme started the VOC emission
was 156 g/m 2 .
Paint Line 3 was designed from the start to be a water-based plant, thereby significantly
reducing the amount of solvents used. As a result of these improvement measures, VOC
emissions have more than halved,from 85.66 g/m 2 to 41.87 g/m 2 .The target for 2010 is 20g/m 2 .
Volatile Organic Compounds
Paint thinners and other solvents
used during the painting process
emit volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), which are potentially
harmful air pollutants, create
smog, and potentially have
significant health risks, if
exposure limits are exceeded.
Toyota South Africa has been reducing VOC emissions in Paint Line 2 for a number of
years, through measures such as using less paint, and fewer solvents. In FY’06, the year
that Paint Line 2 was decommissioned, it was emitting 85.66 g/m 2 of units painted until
Other Emissions
A number of emissions result from electricity use, some of which are greenhouse gases,
such as oxides of sulphur and nitrogen (SOx, NOx). Through the installation of the solar
panels, SOx and NOx reductions have been achieved as shown.
FY’05
FY’07
SOx reduction (kg) 13,728 11,732
NOx reduction (kg) 6,058 5,927
No ozone depleting compounds (ODCs) are used at the Toyota South Africa
manufacturing site.
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