The #FarmToCar mission is simple: replace petroleum-based plastics with plant-based materials.https://t.co/ETS8NqtqxL
— Ford Drive Green (@FordDriveGreen) May 10, 2016
Fifteen years ago, it seemed like a pipe dream. Debbie Mielewski, Senior Technical Leader of Materials Sustainability, Ford Motor Company, wanted to make cars using more sustainable materials -- namely, plants.
She calls it the farm-to-car mission.
At the time, the idea of plant-based plastics was new and untested. "We were told over and over it could not be done," she recalls. "I always say we got thrown out of every conference room in the company. But I believed we had a responsibility to do it."
We actually have to backtrack on the statement above. Plant-based plastics were largely untested, but they were anything but new. Henry Ford built a prototype bioplastic car before World War II, but the formula for the plastic was lost.
If they could do it in the 40's, they could do it again with the benefit of modern technology.
It took a lot of trial and error -- mostly error. "The initial foams smelled like rancid popcorn," said Mielewski. Yet eventually, they came up with the perfect soy-based seat cushion foam. It went into use in 2007, and has been used in every new Ford build in North America since 2011.
Ford is also currently developing materials like rice-hull-reinforced plastics, bioplastic made with tomato skins, carpeting made from coconut husks, and more.
Visit Coggin Deland Ford to test drive sustainably-manufactured new Ford vehicles in Orange City.
