Sustainable Materials in Automotive Applications

Ford Motor Company has established within its global Ford Product Development System (FPDS), a vehicle product system which strives to maximize recyclability and recoverability while minimizing the total environmental impact of vehicles. One aspect of how the automotive industry can move towards sustainability is to include sustainable materials like recycled and natural materials in its products as well as in its manufacturing process. Additional examples of using materials imparting low life cycle impact exist in both in the US and Europe. By introducing sustainable materials in mass production, huge figures for reducing environmental burdens result, for example, worldwide 140 million pounds of recycled non-metalic materials have been used just for Ford vehicles alone.