Ford has detailed that it is collaborating with McDonald's to create car parts, like headlamp housing, from the leftover coffee bean skins that are expelled as a result of roasting. Instead of throwing out the millions of pounds of dispelled coffee bean skin, also known as chaff, when it naturally comes off the bean during the process of roasting, Ford and McDonald's on announced how they will be recycling this material: the two companies are working together to transform this chaff into vehicle components.
Buckle up, grab your coffee, and see how we’re teaming up with @McDonaldsCorp to drive #sustainability forward from an unlikely source. pic.twitter.com/kFomPKSRVc — Ford Motor Company (@Ford) December 4, 2019
The bean skin, after being heated, mixed with various additives like plastic and converted into pellets, functions as a support material that can reinforce various car parts that can be placed inside or outside the hood. Compared with the traditional components that the bean skin parts, which are approximately 20 per cent lighter, are replacing, 25 per cent less energy is used to create them; Ford states that these parts "are significantly better than the currently used material".
This collaboration supports the company's goal of using renewable and recyclable plastics in vehicles globally. McDonald's, on the other hand, "is on its way to sourcing 100 per cent of its guest packaging from renewable, recycled or certified sources by 2025". Ford and McDonald's have plans to continue working together to develop further ways to reuse and recycle waste material into usable products.
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