Toyota, Standard push car recycling

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) has thrown its support behind a new vehicle dismantling site in Cavite, making it the second facility in the country to be recognized under Toyota’s global sustainability program.

This newly endorsed site belongs to Standard Insurance Co., Inc., which now joins the “Toyota Global 100 Dismantlers Project.” The Cavite facility, located inside Standard Insurance’s training and technical center, covers nearly 9,000 square meters and can take apart up to six vehicles a day, mostly ones written off under the insurer’s coverage. On average, about 850 cars are dismantled there each year.

Standard Insurance invested P17.8 million into the site, aiming to give end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) a proper send-off. Rather than letting unusable cars rot in open lots or end up in the wrong hands, the facility is designed to recover reusable parts and safely dispose of hazardous materials. This ties into broader efforts to shift toward a circular economy, where even scrap has a second chance.

TMP president Masando Hashimoto acknowledged the partnership as a solid move toward bigger goals. “We are very grateful to Standard Insurance for its voluntary resolve, making Toyota customers also feel assured with a proper place for ELVs to go,” he said. He added that the facility reinforces Toyota’s push toward carbon neutrality and creating sustainable systems, as part of the company’s Environmental Challenge 2050.

With two Toyota-endorsed dismantling centers now operating, this one in Cavite and another opened last year in Mexico, Pampanga, the private sector is stepping up in the fight against climate-related risks from ELVs. The Cavite facility also becomes the fifth site of its kind in Southeast Asia to be recognized by the Toyota program.

Standard Insurance has been working with TMP since 2021 through the “Toyota Insure” partnership, which allows Toyota customers to get coverage through the insurer. This latest move deepens their collaboration, this time around the idea that what happens to a car at the end of its life is just as important as how it’s built or driven.