Ford says incorporating a coffee byproduct into a vehicle part resulted in a more sustainable and capable final product.
The automaker issued a video this week detailing how it converts coffee chaff from McDonaldβs suppliers into housing for its carsβ headlights. Ford engineers combine the chaff β the husk of the coffee bean normally discarded after the roasting process β with plastic and other additives before melting it down and shaping it into the part.
The housing must be able to withstand the extremely high temperatures of vehicle headlights, and Debbie Miewelski, Fordβs senior technical leader of materials sustainability, said the chaff parts are lighter and have superior heat properties compared to the companyβs conventional housing, which is made from plastic and talc.
Ford officials told CNN the company began incorporating the reformulated parts to some vehicle models this year, and that it hopes to expand to more models and more components in the future.
βWe donβt want to put it on just one car line,β Miewelski said in the video. βWe start there, and we just do sustainability everywhere we can.β
