Toyota to boost RI operation

Toyota to boost RI operation

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA): Toyota Motor Corp will set up a wholly owned Indonesian subsidiary next spring to produce biodegradable plastics, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.

Biodegradable plastics can be broken down into water and carbon dioxide by micro-organisms.

Toyota will use starch from locally grown sweet potatoes to make the products in Indonesia, it said.

The unit will initially produce cattle feed from sweet potatoes before expanding operations to begin making biodegradable plastics, it said.

Toyota plans to first sell the plastics to home appliance manufacturers, eventually exporting them for use in its own automotive parts, it said.