Another plant for recycling end-of-life vehicles is to be built in Walbrzych, Poland.

According to Toyota Motor Europe, the new plant will be built on an area of 25,000 square metres and will process around 20,000 end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) per year. According to the information provided, the aim is to recover reusable components and recyclable raw materials. Components such as batteries, wheels and other parts will be tested in the ‘Circular Factory’ to determine their suitability for reprocessing, reuse or recycling. The company then intends to use recovered materials such as copper, steel, aluminium and plastics in the production of new Toyota vehicles. According to Toyota, the new facility will expand the existing plant in Walbrzych. According to the information provided, key components for hybrid and conventional powertrains are already manufactured there. Leon van der Merwe, Vice President Circular Economy at Toyota Motor Europe, points out that this will be the second circular economy plant in Europe. The first ‘Circular Factory’ was opened in Burnaston, UK, in 2025. The British plant, which recycles around 10,000 vehicles annually, serves as a benchmark for the development of circular business processes, according to van der Merwe. Toyota chose Poland as the location for the second ‘Circular Factory’ because it sees great market potential there for the procurement of end-of-life vehicles and for recycling along the entire value chain. Similar investments are planned in other European markets in the coming years, van der Merwe added.
 
Sources:

• Toyota press release (19.2.2026)
• Photo: © Toyota