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Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the supply of Toyota Industrial Equipment in Australia by planting a tree for every Toyota engine powered forklift delivered throughout 2008.
On current sales trends the commitment will see up to 3,000 trees planted on behalf of Toyota Material Handling by not-for-profit organisation Greenfleet.
Since 1995, Greenfleet has planted trees on behalf of corporate and private donors to create forests in areas of environmental concern, putting back the mix of native species that had been there originally.
TMHA’s contribution to greenhouse gas abatement measures in its milestone year underlines its commitment to environmental issues.
The company’s success in Australia also demonstrates that those issues can be addressed without limiting product development or commercial success.
It distributes the Toyota Industrial Equipment, BT Lift Truck and Raymond Forklift brands to provide a single source for a unique combination of counterbalance forklifts, electric powered pallet trucks, stackers, order pickers and narrow aisle warehouse equipment.
The TMHA network has branches and dealerships in every state, with an additional 14 dedicated service centres and a satellite service network to extend customer support activities nationwide. Its local assets include in excess of 700 staff, of whom more than 60 percent are dedicated to service and parts provision, and a rental fleet of more than 12,500 vehicles.
“Care for the environment features in everything we do, so our commitment to tree planting is a natural extension of that approach in this anniversary year,” president of TMHA, Steve Harper said.
“As a corporation Toyota has a simple three point plan. It aims to curb global warming, use resources more efficiently and reduce environmental risk factors.
“In the material handling equipment field we contribute to the curbing of global warming by actively working to reduce energy consumption and the output of greenhouse gases through the entire lifecycle of our products, services, and production activities.
“Toyota manufacturing techniques are acknowledged as world’s best practice, not just because of the quality of what they produce, but because of the efficient use they make of raw materials and the high level of recycling achieved.
“For example Toyota’s advanced 8-Series forklift models are a major contributor to our current success and it’s no coincidence that they are amongst the world’s cleanest forklifts and the factories which produce them are world leaders in greenhouse gas abatement programs.
“Even at the end of their working lives Toyota 8-Series forklifts can make a useful environmental contribution. They are 99 per cent recyclable and, just as importantly, designed to make it easy for recyclable materials to be reclaimed.”
Toyota’s 8-Series petrol engine powered forklift models fitted with Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) and a three-way catalytic converter already meet the stringent 2010 requirements and also deliver a fuel efficiency bonus.
CO emissions on the EFI and catalytic converter equipped Toyota 8-Series models have been cut by nearly 57 per cent and NOx and HC emissions have been reduced nearly 99 per cent in comparison to the previous 7-Series models.
The use of an electronically controlled throttle on 8-Series Toyota forklifts fitted with the advanced EFI engine has reduced fuel consumption by nearly 15 per cent, which also enhances total emissions performance. Customers can also specify a factory-fitted machine-speed controller.
“Our 8-Series forklift range delivers major improvements in many areas, but we are particularly proud of its environmental performance,” Steve Harper said.
“Just like our tree planting activity with Greenfleet, it’s making a contribution from which we’ll all benefit.”
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