Many people enjoy a cup of coffee on their commute to work, but few would expect the same source of their favorite cup of Joe to also be the same material parts of their car are composed of. Ford and McDonald’s both have made commitments to better the environment, and to maximize their efforts, they began thinking outside of the box and discovered how to turn coffee beans into a cup of coffee and build car parts with coffee bean waste. Both have made advances on their own as McDonald’s aims to source 100% of its guest packaging from renewable, recycled, or certified sources by 2025, and Ford plans to invest over $11 billion into electric and hybrid vehicle technology through 2022. To leave a bigger green footprint, the two companies decided to combine think tanks and found a way to turn coffee chaff, the skin of a coffee bean, into car parts.
During the roasting process of coffee beans, millions of pounds of coffee chaff are naturally removed and discarded as waste annually. To minimize this waste, McDonald’s and Ford’s research teams discovered that increasing the heat of the material in an environment with reduced oxygen while adding plastic and other additives forms it into a material that can be molded into various shapes for car parts, such as headlamp housings. This new material creates an even better product for these car parts then material that is currently used as it holds better heat properties, requires 25 percent less energy during the molding process, and results in a finished material that is 20 percent lighter.
“McDonald’s commitment to innovation was impressive to us and matched our own forward-thinking vision and action for sustainability,” said Debbie Mielewski, Ford senior technical leader, sustainability and emerging materials research team. “This has been a priority for Ford for over 20 years, and this is an example of jump starting the closed-loop economy, where different industries work together and exchange materials that otherwise would be side or waste products.”
All hands were on deck for this project, including help from companies such as Varroc Lighting Systems who supplied the headlamps, and Competitive Green Technologies, the processor of the chaff. For Ford and McDonald’s, this is only the beginning. McDonald’s will continue to supply Ford with their North American coffee chaff, and the two corporations will continue to invest and collaborate in green efforts.
“Like McDonald’s, Ford is committed to minimizing waste and we’re always looking for innovative ways to further that goal,” said Ian Olson, senior director, global sustainability, McDonald’s. “By finding a way to use coffee chaff as a resource, we are elevating how companies together can increase participation in the closed-loop economy.”
Ford also recently announced the debut of their first all-electric vehicle, the Mustang Mach-E, expected to debut late 2020. Ford also currently offers a large selection of hybrid options. If you’re interested in making a greener choice for your next vehicle, check out Ford’s hybrid options at Haldeman Ford in Hamilton!