Toyota’s Deeside plant is now processing recycled alloy wheels into brand new engine parts
Toyota’s Deeside plant is processing aluminium recovered from end-of-life alloy wheels into new engine components, as part of a recycling loop that feeds back into Corolla production at the company’s Derbyshire factory.
The process sits at the heart of what Toyota calls its Circular Factory, the first of which opened at Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK’s Burnaston plant in Derbyshire in the summer of 2025.
Under the scheme, alloy wheels from end-of-life vehicles are recovered at Burnaston, then the aluminium is supplied to Toyota’s Deeside plant in North Wales.
There it is incorporated into engine component production.
The finished hybrid power units then return to Burnaston, where they are fitted into new Toyota Corolla vehicles.
Toyota says the first car to come off the production line using material from this process was built on 19 March.
Leon Van Der Merwe, VP Circular Economy and Energy Business at Toyota Motor Europe, said: “Toyota has a proud history of establishing the Toyota Production System, principles that have become the global standard for manufacturing efficiency.
“Now we are applying the same concept to circularity, designing systems that will help ensure the maximum benefits are realised from end-of-life vehicle feedstock.”
Toyota says the Burnaston site handles vehicles from multiple manufacturers, not just Toyota and Lexus models, with the aim of gaining broader insights into dismantling methods and material composition.
The factory uses Toyota Production System principles, applying standard assembly methodologies in reverse to dismantle vehicles in a standardised way.
Umit Sengezer, Head of Toyota Circular Factory at Toyota Motor Europe, said: “In the first year of its launch, TCF Burnaston is already delivering excellent results and giving us valuable insights, not just in how we handle vehicle end-of-life processes, but also how we can build circularity into the planning and design of future vehicles.”
Toyota says TMUK Burnaston was chosen in part because the UK has one of Europe’s largest end-of-life vehicle markets.
The Burnaston plant has produced more than five million cars since opening in 1992 and was the first Toyota facility in Europe to manufacture hybrid vehicles.
Toyota has announced a second circular factory will open this year at its manufacturing plant in Wałbrzych, Poland.
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