Ford Wants To Make Car Parts Out Of Leftover Ketchup
Forget making cars more green-Ford and Heinz have a plan that adds a little red to the mix. In fact, they're entering into a collaboration to use remnants from ketchup to make parts for new cars.
The pair plan to use leftovers from the ketchup production process-skins, peels, stems and seeds-to make components like wiring brackets and storage bins. The idea is to create a kind of plant-based plastic, which does away with the need to use petroleum-based products in favor of the recycled organic matter to make a strong, lightweight material.
Making plastics out of plant matter isn't particularly new, but making them of high enough quality to include in a car that costs tens of thousands of dollars is. Hence the modest first goal of making components like wiring brackets which never see the light of day-because the finish doesn't need to exacting.