FORD’S SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS STRATEGY

What Goes In Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

A key goal in Ford’s sustainable materials strategy What goes into a vehicle at the beginning of its lifecycle and what comes out of it
is to identify opportunities to use recycled or at the end contribute greatly to its environmental friendliness. That’s why Ford is
renewable material – in place of nonrenewable virgin committed to maximizing the use of recycled, renewable and recyclable content in its
material – in its vehicles. Here are some of the green
materials Ford is using:
vehicles, while enabling maximum end-of-life vehicle recycling. What Comes Out
This “reduce, reuse and recycle” commitment is part of Ford’s broader global About 85 percent of the
sustainability strategy to reduce its environmental footprint and accelerate the global materials used on Ford vehicles
Recycled Materials (non-metal): development of advanced fuel-efficient vehicle technologies. by weight are recyclable, and
• Post-consumer plastics made into:
approximately 95 percent of
– Underbody shields
all vehicles retired from use
– Battery tray
each year are processed for
– Carpets
recycling.
– Heater and air conditioning housing
– Fan shroud • Dismantled, reconditioned
– Replacement bumpers and sold on the used auto
– Wheel arch liners parts market when possible:
– Air cleaner assembly –S  tarter
– Roof lining –A  lternator
– Instrument panel –E  ngine
– Parcel shelf –T  ransmission
– Sound proofing –S  teering wheel column
– Insulation –F  uel tank
– Seat fabrics –S  eats
–S  tereo
• Post-industrial yarns made into
–F  enders
seat fabrics
–D  oors
• Post-consumer cotton from blue
• Drained for reuse when
jeans made into interior padding
possible:
• Post-consumer nylon carpeting made –F  uel
into resin for cylinder head covers –C  oolant
–W  indshield fluid
Renewable Materials: • Batteries recycled or
• Soy-based polyurethane foams used for The End-of-Life Process sold on the used auto
seat cushions, seatbacks and headliners Once all of the salvageable material is removed from a vehicle at the end of its parts market when possible
• Wheat straw and other plant fiber-reinforced plastic useful life, the remaining structure is flattened and pulverized into fist-sized pieces • Tires reused when possible,
used for vehicle storage bins and interior door panel at the rate of one car every 45 seconds. or shredded, cleaned and
• Engineering wood technology (recycled and Industrial-strength magnets are used to separate the ferrous (iron and steel) from processed into playground
renewable) used forinterior trim non-ferrous (aluminum) metals and the recovered ferrous metals are recycled to surfaces and garden
produce new steel. The steel industry recycles more than 14 million tons of steel mulch
• Sugars made from corn, beet and cane
from end-of-life vehicles each year.
under consideration for biodegradable
plastic parts Following the removal of all recyclable materials, the remaining non-recyclable
ASR (auto shredder residue), which includes plastics, rubber, foam , fabric and
glass, is disposed of in landfills.

4/2010 for more information, go to WWW.media.ford.com