At a recent conference in Orlando, Debbie Mielewski, Ford’s senior technical leader of materials sustainability, provided an update on the automaker’s many sustainable material initiatives.
Soy is used in the company’s seat cushions and backs and in most of its headrests in the North American market after the foam was introduced in 2003. Mielewski, speaking at the Refocus Summit, organized by the Plastics Industry Association, says 31,251 soybeans are used in a typical Ford vehicle. The use of soy foam in Ford vehicles has reduced the company’s annual carbon dioxide emissions by more than 20 million pounds.
Wheat straw-reinforced plastics have also been used in the interior storage bin of the 2010 Ford Flex, but Mielewski called that “small progress” the company can build upon. Ford is also working on a new application replacing glass fiber with cellulose fiber, Mielewski said.
Ford’s Chairman Bill Ford is “incredibly supportive” of the company’s work in sustainable materials, she added.