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Toyota has been leading the market in
driving down CO2 emissions from its cars, as witnessed by its
achievement in becoming the first manufacturer to dip below the European
Union’s 130g/km fleet average target. But cutting the pollution from
vehicles is only one element of Toyota’s 360-degree approach to reducing
the environmental impact of its business.
Following the success of a pilot scheme
last year, Toyota is working with the Carbon Trust to achieve
significant reductions in energy use and carbon emissions across its
network of more than 200 Toyota and Lexus centres, following a new
8-Step Environmental Plan.
Results from the 2009 pilot programme
conducted at 16 centres demonstrated the plan’s potential to achieve
substantial environmental gains and have encouraged its implementation
nationwide. The trial recorded savings of up to 20 per cent in
electricity and gas consumption, reducing the carbon footprint of each
site by around 30 tonnes of CO2 per year. If replicated
nationally, this could bring the emissions from the entire centre
network down by around 15 per cent within a year.
Nigel Burke, Centre Principal at
Somerset County Cars, one of the centres that participated in the trial,
said: “The pilot project has given us the means to visualise our energy
usage and where we could make savings. Through staff education, good
housekeeping, constant monitoring and modest expenditure on items such
as lighting or timers we have significantly reduced our electricity
consumption.”
The structure of the 8-Step
Environmental Plan, detailed in the illustration below, builds on
Toyota’s Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy,
and is designed not only to deliver environmental benefits for Toyota
and its centres, but also to the wider community through education and
communication of energy-saving best practice ideas.
With the support of the Carbon Trust,
each centre will be assessed on its current energy use and through a
targeted energy management and monitoring system will be helped to
reduce electricity and gas consumption. Workshops will also be held over
2010 and 2011 to promote best practice and sustain energy savings.
Thomas Rosselle, Toyota Manager for
Corporate Social Responsibility said: “Our centres’ achievements in
reducing their carbon footprint will not only be beneficial to them and
to Toyota, they will also enable them to share best practice with
members of their local community, such as customers, businesses, schools
and other community groups.
“By sharing the knowledge they gain in
this way, they can help others to reduce their energy usage and thus
achieve even greater carbon emissions savings.”
Hugh Jones, Director of Solutions at
the Carbon Trust, said: “We’re delighted that Toyota is taking action to
cut energy use and carbon emissions across its dealer network. The pilot
programme proved that even simple changes can make a real impact. We
look forward to working with the company to build on this success.”
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