The Ford Escape is made from bits of rubbish.
No, really – there’s a whole bunch of recycled materials that go into every car. We’re talking at least two pairs of old jeans, 25 plastic bottle and more soybean pulp than you probably realised. Ford are even planning to use tomato sauce waste.
In partnership with Heinz, Ford globally is also researching the use of tomato fibre – the by-product of sauce production – to develop new interior car parts. It’s estimated that Ford could re-use more than two million tonnes of tomato skins every year that would otherwise be burned.
As well as giving the company warm and fuzzies, there’s a more obvious reason for this “sustainable” move.
“Young consumers care deeply about where and how their products are made, whether they are vegetables or automobiles,” Sheryl Connelly, global consumer trends and futuring manager at Ford Motor Company told Gizmodo Australia.
“They feel a personal responsibility to address social issues and are putting their money where their heart is. We must keep pace with consumers’ evolving wants and needs in order to remain competitive.”