Toyota Says Misssissippi Plant Will Be Environmentally Sustainable

The Prius Hybrid vehicle will be built in a plant just as environmentally friendly as it is.

Toyota says its new plant near Tupelo will be one of the company’s most environmentally friendly plants ever. MPB’s Cari Gervin reports.

Kevin Butt is the Chief Environmental Officer of Toyota’s North American office.

In the past few years, the company has gone as green as possible, down to composting leftover lunches. In the process, it’s saved millions of dollars.

Butt said on Tuesday that the new Mississippi plant will have as small a footprint as possible to save on energy costs. He also said the plant will utilize some combination of geothermal energy, solar power and wind power.

Toyota requires its suppliers to go green as well, which will affect any number of companies that will build sites nearby when the Mississippi plant eventually begins production.

Butts says Toyota has strict standards for its suppliers.

“One is, that they become ISO 14001 certified, which is an environmental management system that helps them become a more responsible environmental company. We ask them to be sure that they do not use certain chemicals in the manufacture of their process. Toyota has a chemical ban list.”

Butt spoke at the University of Mississippi as part of the campus’s Green Week. Jamey Hurst is a freshman and said he hopes Toyota’s practices spread to more Mississippi companies.

"I feel like a lot of people are afraid to implement environmentally friendly practices because they feel like it’s going to, like, increase the costs to their company. But he’s proved that Toyota can do that and save money at the same time.”

Butt restated Toyota’s commitment to building the Prius hybrid vehicle at the plant but said he had no idea when it will actually open.

For MPB News, I’m Cari Gervin in Oxford.