High-pressure hydrogen tanks are being used on a passenger boat^*1 powered by hydrogen and other environmentally-friendly energy. These large hydrogen tanks employ the hydrogen storage technology developed by Toyoda Gosei and Toyota Motor Corporation for the MIRAI fuel cell vehicle, which previously have used mainly on trucks and other commercial vehicles. This latest use on a vessel operated by MOTENA-Sea, a company in which Mitsui OSK Lines and others have invested, is in a form of hydrogen storage modules made by Toyota Motor that combine multiple large tanks so that larger amounts of hydrogen can be stored and transported efficiently and conveniently.

• *1 The HANARIA passenger vessel is equipped with both hydrogen fuel cells and biodiesel fueled generators. MOTENA-Sea will begin operating the HANARIA in April 2024.

High-pressure hydrogen tanks manufactured by Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. have been used in portable hydrogen cartridges developed by Toyota Motor Corporation.

Portable hydrogen cartridges can safely and easily carry hydrogen and can be attached to various types of devices. This makes it possible to use hydrogen energy in a wide range of applications, such as hydrogen cooking equipment that burn hydrogen, or as electric sources in combination with fuel cells. The hydrogen storage technology developed by Toyoda Gosei and Toyota Motor for the Mirai fuel cell vehicle is applied in the high-pressure hydrogen tanks used inside these cartridges.

Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. and Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc. have jointly developed new technology that reduces the amount of energy used in the production of rubber products.

After rubber automotive hoses are formed, they are put in an autoclave and heated with high temperature steam to give them elasticity. During this process, large amounts of steam are used to raise the temperature to a fixed level. Much gas is consumed to create this steam. To reduce the amount of steam used, Toyoda Gosei focused on the process of exchanging the air inside the autoclave with steam and leveraged Toyota Central R&D Labs’ simulation technology that can analyze with high accuracy the airflow and heat distribution within the autoclave. The new, energy-saving technology, under joint patent pending, reduces by half the amount of steam needed during discharge compared with the previous process. The company plans to roll out application of this technology to its other rubber parts plants in Japan and internationally.

Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. has switched to green electricity generated from renewable energy resources (solar, wind, biomass, other) for the power used at its Nishimizoguchi Plant (Aichi Prefecture, Japan). This will reduce FY2024 CO₂ emissions by approximately 1,200 tons compared with the previous year.

In August 2023, Toyoda Gosei declared that it would bring forward to 2030 the timing for achieving carbon neutrality in the CO₂ emissions generated in its production activities (Scope 1, 2). The company is accelerating this move through energy savings gained with production technology innovations and daily kaizen, and the switch to electricity from renewable energy. Toyoda Gosei is increasing its use of renewable energy with the best combination of green power and Non-Fossil Certificate^*2 purchases, installation of on-site solar power facilities, and more.

• *2 Certificates for the environmental value of renewable energy, which does not emit CO₂.

Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd., as one part of its efforts to improve transport efficiency during product delivery, has developed a system that uses smartphone 3D sensing (LiDAR1) to easily calculate truck load capacity without place restrictions.

When planning truck allocation and routing at present, load volumes are regularly checked for optimization based on production volumes at each of the plants of Toyoda Gosei’s automaker customers. Previously, a person in charge of each route confirmed cargo beds visually, but judgment criteria varied and the number of trucks that could be checked was limited. To deal with these issues, in 2023 Toyoda Gosei developed a 24-hour-a-day automatic load calculation system using AI and fixed cameras. This system was introduced at two distribution2 centers that account for sixty percent of the company’s product transport, raising loading efficiency.

The newly developed load calculation system is easy to use anywhere since processing can be completed on a smartphone, and highly accurate calculations can be done with a LiDAR scanner. Using this mobile system, efforts to improve transport efficiency will be spread to direct delivery and other routes from Toyoda Gosei’s production locations dispersed throughout the country, which account for the remaining forty percent of product transport.

• *3 Light Detection and Ranging. A technology to calculate the distance to and shape of an object based on laser light reflection information.
• *4 Toyoda Gosei’s Miyoshi Distribution Center and the Ichinomiya Distribution Center of Group company TG Logistics.

Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. and the Forest Research and Management Organization’s Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute have jointly developed1 a glycol lignin plastic, an environmentally-friendly plastic that includes a constituent of Japanese cedar, a species of tree native to Japan.

As part of its efforts toward decarbonization, Toyoda Gosei is reducing the environmental impact of its plastic and rubber products by mixing plant-derived materials. In the newly-developed plastic, glycol lignin extracted from Japanese cedar is mixed into plastics like urethane and nylon used in automobile steering wheels. Glycol lignin is made through the process in which lignin is chemically extracted from Japanese cedar for use as an industrial material, and has advantages including superior heat resistance and workability. Toyoda Gosei’s material technology has enabled to replace some of the petroleum-derived material in plastic products with this glycol lignin. Promotion of use of glycol lignin is a part of efforts for effective use of Japanese cedar, which exists in abundance in all regions of Japan, by enhancing added-value of the wood, and may also contribute to reducing Japanese cedar pollen, which is an allergen.

The company will continue its development efforts with the aim of practical application as steering wheels and other interior and exterior products.

• *5 The Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, a National Research and Development Agency, is a representative institution conducting joint development in the “High Performance Lignin Material Development Consortium,” which pursues the realization of decarbonized society.
• *6 Urethane for steering wheels is being developed by Toyoda Gosei, while steering wheel inserts are being jointly developed with Tendo Co., Ltd.

Toyoda Gosei’s Energy Saving Dojo was established in the Miwa Technical Center as an educational facility where cases of energy savings on production lines and the elimination of waste are shared within the company. Suppliers and others share good examples of efforts to cut CO₂ over the entire supply chain.

Toyoda Gosei aims to achieve carbon neutrality in production activities by saving energy through reduced consumption of electric and thermal energy in plants (decrease in the total amount of energy used) and by raising the adoption rate of renewable energy such as solar and wind energy (switching energy sources).

A total of 17 examples are shown in the company’s Energy Saving Dojo, including an area to experience the energy-saving effect of heat pumps in comparison with heaters, and an example of power loss due to factors such as leaks in air sent from air compressors and the length of piping.

Toyoda Gosei began operations of its first recycling line in FY2021, using its proprietary devulcanization technology that can recycle rubber products into high quality raw materials. The company has been reusing the waste material generated in the production of products.

A second line is now being put into operation that will double the previous rubber recycling capacity to 1,200 tons annually. The new line, which is scheduled to start mass production in FY2025, incorporates improved technology to raise the quality of the recycled rubber. This enables to increase the percentage of recycled material mixed into new material from several percent up to 20 percent, which is with this almost all of the waste from opening trim weatherstrips^*8 manufactured at the Morimachi Plant can be recycled.

• *8 Rubber products attached to door frames and elsewhere to keep wind, rain and noise from the vehicle interior.

• *9 This is an annual part of the awards in which individual jurists select and introduce award-winning products they personally like or that are attracting attention.

Toyoda Gosei’s Memorial Gymnasium (Aichi, Japan) and Group company Hoshin Gosei Co., Ltd. reduced water usage by recirculating water in production processes, installing green curtains, and using rainwater to water plants in employee rest spaces.

Toyoda Gosei is expanding its woodland development activities in the city of Minokamo, Gifu, Japan. Forests in Japan are not always well managed, and we aim to restore ecosystems and other parts of the natural environment by dealing with issues such as a decrease in water purification and other functions of forests.

“Environmental Preservation and Living with Nature” is one of Toyoda Gosei’s long-term environmental targets (TG Environmental Challenge), and we have been developing woodlands and protecting nature through activities including establishing biotopes, preserving rivers and tidal flats, and thinning forests and clearing underbrush in cooperation with the city of Minokamo in Gifu Prefecture and the town of Morimachi in Shizuoka Prefecture. Recently we have expanded the “Toyoda Gosei Kimori no Sato” by about 15,000 m², and are expanding the scope of our activities (currently, 9.5 ha).

On September 16, 2024, an agreement signing ceremony was held for the fourth term related to expansion in Gifu Prefecture and Minokamo City.

This center was opened as a permanent place where young employees and environmental novices can raise their environmental awareness, gain basic environmental knowledge, and learn about efforts within the company.

Trends in global environmental activities and company efforts are introduced in an easily understandable manner through illustrations, videos, and experiential exhibits. Examples of production process energy savings and waste reduction and ecosystem protection are displayed so that visitors can apply them in their own workplaces. The company intranet is also used so that more employees can view these online at any time. They are also presented on a smartphone site for employees.