Ford Increases Sustainable Material Usage

From Ford.com:

•Ford and Lear Corporation have introduced a new head restraint foam with 25 percent of the polyol replaced with soy
•75 percent of Ford’s North American-built vehicles feature bio-based foam in the head restraints. Vehicles include the Ford F-150, Taurus, Explorer and Fusion

•All Ford North American-built vehicles use bio-based foam in seat cushions and backs. Ford’s use of bio-based foam has helped the company reduce its petroleum oil usage by more than 3 million pounds annually and carbon dioxide emissions by more than 15 million pounds

Ford and Lear Corporation are taking another leap forward in sustainable technology with the introduction of new head restraint foam that has 25 percent of the polyol replaced with soy.

Seventy-five percent of Ford’s North American vehicles feature bio-foam in the head restraints, including the Ford F-150, Taurus, Explorer and Fusion. All Ford Motor Company vehicles built in North America use bio-foam content in the seat cushions and backs.

“We are continuously looking for new ways to expand our use of bio-based foam, and head restraints are a perfect example,” said Debbie Mielewski, technical leader, Ford Plastics Research. “It’s a new location with higher soy content. We’re not stopping at head restraints, either. There are still many other applications in which traditional foam can be converted to bio-based soy foam on vehicles, such as energy-absorption areas, steering wheels and armrests.”

The extended use of soy foam results from the continued research collaboration between Ford and Lear; Ford first used sustainable soybean oil-derived seating foam on the 2008 Mustang. The collaboration also generated the recent complete conversion of all Lear North American Ford seating cushion foam to Lear SoyFoam™.

SoyFoam is up to 24 percent more renewable than petroleum-based foam. The biomaterial has helped Ford reduce its annual petroleum oil usage by more than 3 million pounds. The use of SoyFoam also has helped Ford reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by more than 15 million pounds. SoyFoam also can provide a 67 percent reduction in volatile organic compound emissions.

Read entire article here.

Learn more about Ford's use of sustainable materials in their vehicles at Lakewood Fordland.