Toyota doubles down on circularity with a new Circular Factory in Poland

Toyota Motor Europe (TME) has announced a fresh investment in circular economy infrastructure with the launch of a new Circular Factory in Wałbrzych, Poland. The site will cover around 25,000 square metres and is designed to process close to 20,000 end-of-life vehicles each year—an important step in Toyota’s wider push to embed reduce, reuse and recycle principles across its European operations.

At its core, the facility is built to do more than dismantle vehicles. It will take a systematic approach to recovering components and materials that still hold value, helping to keep resources in use for longer and reducing reliance on carbon-intensive virgin raw materials.

A practical model for end-of-life vehicle recovery

The Wałbrzych Circular Factory will focus on extracting parts that can be reused and identifying materials that can be returned to production loops. Components such as batteries and wheels will be assessed for their potential to be remanufactured, repurposed or recycled. Alongside parts, Toyota plans to recover key raw materials—such as copper, steel, aluminium and plastics—so they can be used in the manufacture of new vehicles.

This approach reflects a growing recognition across industry: circularity is not a “nice-to-have” sustainability add-on, but a supply chain strategy that can strengthen resilience while lowering environmental impact.

Building on existing manufacturing strength in Wałbrzych

Toyota’s decision to locate the facility in Poland is closely linked to the existing footprint of its Wałbrzych plant, which already produces key components for Toyota’s hybrid and conventional powertrains. The new Circular Factory will expand activities at the site, adding a dedicated circular economy capability alongside established manufacturing operations.

According to Leon van der Merwe, Vice President of Circular Economy at Toyota Motor Europe, this is Toyota’s second Circular Factory in Europe. The first, launched in 2025 in Burnaston (United Kingdom), has served as a benchmark for developing circular economy operations across the region.

Toyota also highlighted Poland’s market potential for sourcing end-of-life vehicles, as well as opportunities to develop recycling flows both upstream and downstream—supported by the presence of Toyota’s established manufacturing infrastructure.

Why circularity matters for carbon neutrality

Toyota frames circularity as both a pathway to—and an enabler of—carbon neutrality. By reducing demand for newly extracted materials and designing vehicles for reuse, remanufacturing and recycling, circular models can cut emissions across the value chain, not only at the tailpipe.

In practice, circularity helps:

• Reduce the emissions tied to raw material extraction and processing

• Improve material efficiency and reduce waste

• Support more stable, localised supply chains

• Create repeatable processes for recovering value from end-of-life products

With plans to introduce similar investments in other European markets in the coming years, Toyota’s move signals a broader shift: end-of-life is increasingly being treated as a resource opportunity, not a disposal problem.