# Ford Finds New Use for 4.1 Million Pounds of Recycled Carpet – Under Your Feet!!

- Link: https://greenlivingguy.com/2011/04/ford-finds-new-use-for-4-1-million-pounds-of-recycled-carpet-under-your-feet/
- Published: 2011-04-07T21:23:18-04:00
- Author: greenlivingguy

_**Source: Ford Motor Company**_ and [PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/from-under-your-feet-to-covering-your-engine---ford-finds-new-use-for-41-million-pounds-of-recycled-carpet-119474249.html)

The carpet underfoot in homes sometimes ends up in strange places, and now Ford’s
efforts to use sustainable materials in its vehicles have landed carpet in another
unique spot – the cylinder head covers on some Ford engines. Even more impressive
are the benefits it has for the environment.

_**During 2010, the use of EcoLon^(®) material, a nylon resin made from 100 percent
recycled carpet, saved more than 4.1 million pounds of carpet from landfills, the
equivalent of nearly 154 football fields. It also amounted to recycling more than
985,000 yards of carpet and reducing the consumption of more than 430,000 gallons
of oil.**_

The EcoLon material from Wellman Engineering Resins offers an eco-friendly, high-
quality alternative to typical cylinder head covers and is one more example of Ford’s
continued dedication to finding renewable material solutions for use in its vehicles.
The cylinder head covers are manufactured by Dana Holding Corporation.

**What Goes In**
A key goal in Ford’s sustainable materials strategy is to identify
opportunities to use recycled orrenewable material – in place of nonrenewable virgin
material – in its vehicles. Here are some of the [green materials](https://greenlivingguy.com/2011/12/krantz-recovered-wood-craftsmanship-and-innovation/)
Ford is using:

**Recycled Materials (non-metal):• Post-consumer plastics made into:
– Underbody
shields– Battery tray– Carpets– Heater and air conditioning housing– Fan shroud–
Replacement bumpers– Wheel arch liners– Air cleaner assembly– Roof lining– Instrument
panel– Parcel shelf– Sound proofing– Insulation– Seat fabrics• Post-industrial yarns
made into seat fabrics• Post-consumer cotton from blue jeans made into interior 
padding• Post-consumer nylon carpeting made into resin for cylinder head covers

**Renewable Materials:**

• Soy-based polyurethane foams used forseat cushions, seatbacks and headliners

•Wheat straw and other plant fiber-reinforced plastic used for vehicle storage bins
and interior door panel

• Engineering wood technology (recycled and renewable) used forinterior trim
• Sugars
made from corn, beet and cane under consideration for biodegradable plastic parts

**Reduce, Reuse and Recycle**

What goes into a vehicle at the beginning of its lifecycle and what comes out of
it at the end contribute greatly to its environmental friendliness. That’s why Ford
is committed to maximizing the use of recycled, renewable and recyclable content
in its vehicles, while enabling maximum end-of-life vehicle recycling.

This “reduce, reuse and recycle” commitment is part of Ford’s broader global sustainability
strategy to reduce its environmental footprint and accelerate the global development
of advanced fuel-efficient vehicle technologies.

**The End-of-Life Process

Once all of the salvageable material is removed from a vehicle at the end of its
useful life, the remaining structure is flattened and pulverized into fist-sized
pieces at the rate of one car every 45 seconds.

Industrial-strength magnets are used to separate the ferrous (iron and steel) from
non-ferrous (aluminum) metals and the recovered ferrous metals are recycled to produce
new steel. The steel industry recycles more than 14 million tons of steel from end-
of-life vehicles each year.

Following the removal of all recyclable materials, the remaining non-recyclable 
ASR (auto shredder residue), which includes plastics, rubber, foam , fabric and 
glass, is disposed of in landfills.

**What Goes In**
A key goal in Ford’s sustainable materials strategy is to identify
opportunities to use recycled or renewable material – in place of nonrenewable virgin
material – in its vehicles. Here are some of the green materials Ford is using:Recycled
Materials (non-metal):• Post-consumer plastics made into:– Underbody shields– Battery
tray– Carpets– Heater and air conditioning housing– Fan shroud– Replacement bumpers–
Wheel arch liners– Air cleaner assembly– Roof lining– Instrument panel– Parcel shelf–
Sound proofing– Insulation– Seat fabrics• Post-industrial yarns made into seat fabrics•
Post-consumer cotton from blue jeans made into interior padding• Post-consumer nylon
carpeting made into resin for cylinder head covers

**Renewable Materials:**
• Soy-based polyurethane foams used for seat cushions, 
seatbacks and headliners• Wheat straw and other plant fiber-reinforced plastic used
for vehicle storage bins and interior door panel• Engineering wood technology (recycled
and renewable) used forinterior trim• Sugars made from corn, beet and cane under
consideration for biodegradable plastic parts

**What Comes OutAbout 85 percent of the materials used on Ford vehicles by weight
are recyclable, and approximately 95 percent of all vehicles retired from use each
year are processed for recycling.
• Dismantled, reconditioned and sold on the used
auto parts market when possible:– Starter– Alternator– Engine– Transmission– Steering
wheel column– Fuel tank– Seats– Stereo– Fenders– Doors• Drained for reuse when possible:–
Fuel– Coolant– Windshield fluid• Batteries recycled or sold on the used auto parts
market when possible• Tires reused when possible,or shredded, cleaned and processed
into playground surfaces and garden mulch.