The Ford Fusion Energi, Ford Motor company’s plug-in hybrid-powered passenger car, has taken a further step down the ‘green’ road with a collaboration that will see Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle technology used in the fabric interior of the seats, head restraints and various liners and fittings. A demonstration model was showcased at the Los Angeles Auto Show, November 22 – December 1, 2013.
Ford and Coca-Cola showcased a demo version of the Ford plug-in hybrid Energi at the LA Auto Show– outfitted with the first-ever fabric covering for seat cushions, head restraints and more made with Coke’s PlantBottle Technology. (photos: Coca-Cola/Ford)
The Ford Fusion Energi, Ford Motor Company’s plug-in hybrid-powered passenger car, has taken a further step down the ‘green’ road with a collaboration that will see Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle technology used in the fabric interior of the seats, head restraints and various liners and fittings.
Building upon the success of PlantBottle Technology, Ford has been able to produce the first-ever fibre that can be woven into durable, automotive-grade PET fabric from PlantBottle material.
Amid the high-profile unveilings of exotic supercars and eyecatching but barely-practical ‘concept cars’, Ford and Coca-Cola were showing in LA a concept that is realistic, already features in a model available for sale, and extends ideas of sustainable manufacturing and plastics recycling into new areas. Recycled materials derived from PET bottles are already used in auto fittings but they are mostly tucked away out of sight, being deployed in such applications as noise and heat insulation. PlantBottle packaging is different: its visual appearance is said to be perfectly acceptable, as are its comfort and wear performance levels.
Scott Vitters, General Manager of the PlantBottle packaging platform at Coca-Cola, said the collaboration shows that the technology can be applied anywhere PET plastic is traditionally used, but with a lighter carbon footprint. The company’s first-generation PlantBottle packaging, used in fully-recyclable PET bottles, is made of two components: 30% plant-based mono-ethylene glycol (MEG), and 70% purified terephthalic acid (PTA). In 2012 it signed an agreement with Avantium, of the Netherlands, to develop polyethylene-furanoate (PEF), a 100% plant-based plastic.
“We hope to drive awareness that PlantBottle Technology can be used across the entire polyester universe – in everything from the inside of a car, to carpet, to clothing,” said Vitters. “Ford is highlighting the potential for a future of renewably sourced, low-carbon polyester fibres that can be recycled again and again”.
R&D teams from Coke and Ford came together to discuss sustainable innovation during the course of 2011. Both companies use PET but in different applications. For Coke, it is (unsurprisingly) about bottles. Ford looks more to fabrics, including carpets and readily concedes that the discussions with Coca-Cola helped them to appreciate the opportunities of working together to develop a wider range of applications that would use sustainable, recyclable and recycled materials. While Ford maintains that it was already using environmentally-friendly fabrics in its vehicles, it saw the technology as a further step along the road.
Interior fabric made from the same renewable material used to produce Coke’s PlantBottle packaging is featured in this demo model of the Ford Fusion Energi.
Scientists and engineers at the two companies co-developed a fibre using PlantBottle material that could be woven into durable, automotive-grade PET fabric. Ford is evaluating the potential of using the material in other applications. The Fusion Energi was the obvious choice for a test vehicle, given its ‘eco-friendly’ presentation and image. Other renewable materials found in the car include carpet liner made from sound-absorbing denim and seat-cushion foam made from soybeans.
PET is core to the interior fabric of the Ford Fusion Energi
Coca-Cola introduced PlantBottle Technology in 2009 as the first recyclable PET plastic bottle made partially from plants. Since then, more than 18 billion PlantBottle packages have reached the market in 28 countries, saving more than 400,000 barrels of oil, by their own account. The company plans to convert all of its PET plastic bottles – which accounts for approximately 60% of its packaging globally – to PlantBottle packaging by 2020.
Coke decided from outset that it would license the technology to other non-competitive companies, in order to expand its application and build a global supply chain for PlantBottle material. The partnership with H.J. Heinz, for example, has seen more than more than 200 million ketchup bottles in PlantBottle packaging shipped since 2011.
www.coca-colacompany.com
www.ford.com
