Coffee Waste Turn into Auto Parts?

Popular Mechanics revealed that Ford recently partnered with McDonald’s to convert coffee waste into car parts.

Coffee chaff — the husk of the bean gets discarded during roasting. Every year in North America, millions of pounds of coffee chaff become composting, waste filler, etc.

Debbie Mielewski - senior technical leader of materials sustainability for Ford and her team succeeded in making bio-plastics of all shapes by heating coffee chaff in low oxygen environment and then mix with plastics.

The resultant auto parts will be 20 percent lighter — and therefore more fuel-efficient — and save the company up to 25 percent more energy during their manufacture. Not only that, but the Macchi-auto parts are more durable, says Debbie Mielewski. Fords plans to start producing sustainable headlamp housings.