Another first for Toyota SA, Draftfcb - ‘green' ink

This is the first time these inks have been used commercially in South Africa notching up another commendable first for the company and its marketing partner, Draftfcb Johannesburg.

According to production director, Gary Dupen, Toyota has used the environmentally friendly Hanno range of papers for the majority of its print communication campaigns for some years now. Not only does this support local business because it comes through the Sappi mills, it is produced using a chlorine-free bleaching process and is harvested from sustainable forests, he said.

“Aware that Toyota would respond favourably to other ‘green' solutions, Draftfcb started investigating the possibility of using environmentally friendly inks - effectively eliminating the lead and petroleum additives that are used in the manufacture of traditional printing ink products,” Dupen said.

“Eventually, we identified a Japanese manufacturing company producing soy based printing inks, and began testing their suitability for commercial scale printing. As soon as we were satisfied with the quality, we made the call to go ahead and begin using these inks on Toyota print communications going forward.

“To the best of our knowledge, Toyota SA, Draftfcb and Lloyd Gray Lithographers, the largest sheet-fed print supplier on the Toyota account, have become the first companies in South Africa to use this product commercially, a fact which makes us very proud,” said Dupen.

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has a commendable track record when it comes to environmentally friendly policies and practices; it made the environment a top-priority management issue as far back as the early nineties.

Although Toyota's focus on the environment is wide-ranging, the major thrust is to make ever more environmentally friendly vehicles. The company's Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle or FCHV project was launched as far back as 1992, and is being marketed on a limited scale in Japan and the United States. The bus you catch in downtown Tokyo today could be a hybrid vehicle developed by Toyota and Hino Motors.

Toyota South Africa is aligned with global Toyota environmental objectives. Guidelines are contained in the Toyota Earth Charter (see www.toyota.co.za).