Japanese automaker Toyota is expanding its Wałbrzych, Poland, plant into a hub for both production and recovery, announcing a new facility dedicated to recycling raw materials and parts from end-of-life vehicles.

“We selected Poland due to the strong market potential to source end-of-life vehicles, recycling upstream and downstream, and the presence of our established manufacturing infrastructure,” Leon van der Merwe, vice president of circular economy at Toyota Motor Europe, said in a release.

“In the coming years we plan to introduce similar investments in other European markets.”

The new 25,000-square-metre recycling facility will be able to process close to 20,000 vehicles annually. Parts like batteries and wheels will be assessed to be either refurbished, reused, or recycled, while materials like copper, steel, aluminum, and plastics will be separated out and recycled to replace virgin raw materials in new vehicles, reports German news site Plastiker.

TVP World says the facility is expected to start operating in the second half of 2026 in an existing production hall and will be staffed by the manufacturing plant’s current employees.

The new Wałbrzych facility comes as Toyota pursues a wider circular strategy. It will be the carmaker’s second such facility, with one inaugurated last year in Burnaston, United Kingdom. At the time, Toyota said the Burnaston facility was the first phase of a plan to process 10,000 vehicles annually, to be followed by a second phase that includes a broader rollout “with like-minded partner organizations.”

In an interview with ATF Professional, van der Merwe described the Burnaston facility as a “learning lab” where Toyota could test out circular economy processes. The longer-term plan is to partner with other industry stakeholders after the company has understood the process and set standards. The Burnaston facility will take in vehicles of other makes, not just Toyotas, van der Merwe said.

Toyota said the circular factory model is part of efforts to reduce its environmental footprint and achieve carbon neutrality.

“Circularity is both a pathway to and an enabler of carbon neutrality,” the company said in the release. “It lowers the demand for carbon intensive raw materials and strengthens supply chains.”