Sonny Toyoda, president of TIEM, receiving honours from Rick Bossingham, assistant commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing Inc (TIEM) of Columbus, Indiana has been inducted as a charter member to Indiana's Environmental Stewardship Program.

TIEM is the US manufacturing plant for Toyota forklifts and has received the state's Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence. It has implemented recycling initiatives to make it a zero-landfill facility and is a part of the Indiana Partners for Pollution Prevention organisation.

Besides recycling initiatives, TIEM also distributes to each employee a seedling to plant on Arbor Day. Since the program's inception, nearly 13,000 seedlings have been distributed.

Arbor Day, established in Nebraska but also celebrated in other countries, is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees.