Global supply chain challenges are making for a stressful lead up to the holiday season, but for one company, it’s actually driving some greener choices. Toyota has announced that the company will now use scratched or blemished parts that would otherwise have been thrown away.
The parts, which have previously been rejected simply for cosmetic reasons, will be put into use in internal systems where they do not affect the look or quality of the vehicle.
“We are careful about the outside of our vehicles, the parts you can easily see. But there are plenty of places that people don’t notice unless they really take a good look,” said Takefumi Shiga, Toyota’s chief project leader for vehicle development.
The new policy is part of a program launched in 2019 which works with suppliers to ensure that cosmetically damaged components don’t have any safety or performance issues. One supplier, which manufactures plastic seat belt parts, reports that the new policy has decreased the number of components which end up in the trash by three quarters.
