12.15MON
2025.11.25
Leather Scraps From Car Manufacturing Are Reborn as Bags: Introducing Tsugi-Craft, Toyota Upcycle’s New Premium Line
Toyota Motor Corporation, one of Japan's leading automakers, has launched a new initiative to tackle the unavoidable issue of waste in the car manufacturing process. While the company has long been upcycling under its "TOYOTA UPCYCLE" project, it is now taking things a step further. They have launched a new premium line that transforms scraps from genuine leather seats into stylish, high-design products.
This new line, named "Tsugi-Craft by TOYOTA UPCYCLE," is more than just an effort to reduce waste; it represents the company's commitment to craftsmanship and its bold challenge toward sustainability.
We sat down with the project's leader, Noriyuki Nakamura, and its designer, Mai Kato, to learn more about where this initiative is headed.
PROFILE
Noriyuki Nakamura
Project Owner, TOYOTA UPCYCLE, Business Development Office, New Business Planning Division
PROFILE
Mai Kato
Group Manager, Advanced CMFX, Color & Kansei Design Department, Toyota Motor Corporation
Harnessing the High-Performance Nature of Automotive Materials
Toyota Motor Corporation launched the “TOYOTA UPCYCLE” project in July 2021.
Even before the project's launch, individual factories were already recycling and reusing waste materials from the automotive production process. But materials like seatbelts and seat fabric scraps, often made from composite materials or featuring special coatings, proved difficult to recycle and were only reused sporadically.
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