At Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas (TMMTX), Earth Day is every day. The plant, which builds both the Tundra and Tacoma trucks, recycles 1.2 million gallons of water. Every. Day. By cleaning the water received from San Antonio Water Systems, using it, then cleaning it again, TMMTX has been returning better quality water than it received from the system since 2007. While that amount of water recycling is a tremendous achievement, it is not the stopping point for sustainability at TMMTX.
TMMTX’s newest project, a partnership with CPS Energy, will see two acres of solar panels installed on the TMMTX campus. The solar panels will be located near the plant’s Visitor and Education Center, providing an education opportunity for the thousand-plus visitors who tour the plant monthly.
With two acres of solar panels on the site, TMMTX will generate about 200 kilowatt hours (KWH) of energy. That is a whopping cost savings of $12,000 a year.
Previous projects focused on water and energy savings. One project recovers water from the coils of heating ventilation and provides 14.5 million gallons of make-up water to the plant’s cooling tower each year, reducing dependence on public water. Another project to improve air compressor controls saved over two million KWHs annually. Finally, boiler efficiency improvements generated a savings of over 22 million cubic feet of natural gas – enough energy to power 450 homes for a year.
TMMTX’s future continues to look green, with an LED light replacement project continuing throughout the plant and an ultrafiltration project planned to help reclaim even more water and the continuation of TMMTX’s zero-landfill goal.
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