Ford Motor Company and Coca-Cola are working together to keep plastic out of landfills. Ford unveiled inside a Ford Fusion Energi a first ever interior fabric using Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle Technology on November 15, 2013.
Inside this Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid car is Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle technology in the form of fabric covering door panel inserts, headliners, head restraints, seat backs and seat cushions. This is a first for PlantBottle Technology, until now it has only been used in Coca-Cola packaging.
“By using PlantBottle Technology in a plug-in hybrid,” said John Viera, global director of sustainability and vehicle environmental matters at Ford, “Ford and Coca-Cola are showing the broad potential to leverage renewable materials that help replace petroleum and other fossil fuels, reducing the overall environmental impact of future vehicles.”
Between Ford Motor Company and Coca-Cola Company, these brands connect to billions of people in over 200 countries. The two teaming up is a good example of how we can all be creative and build something positive when we work together.
This Ford Fusion Energi concept car is on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Both companies started work on this project in 2012 when they felt a need to explore the further use of more sustainable materials in their products. Since Ford and Coca-Cola both use PET (polyethylene terephthalate), a lightweight durable plastic, in products such as carpets, fabrics and plastic bottles, it was an easy stretch for them to combine ideas.
PlantBottle Technology was first introduced by Coca-Cola in 2009. It’s a recyclable PET material created partially from plants. To date, over 400, 000 barrels of oil have been saved to the tune of more than 18 billion packages made of PlantBottle material in 28 countries. Adding this technology to US Ford models almost 4 million pounds of petroleum-based materials would be displaced.
Scott Vitters, general manager, PlantBottle packaging platform, The Coca-Cola Company, said, “This collaboration with Ford demonstrates that PlantBottle Technology can be applied anywhere PET plastic is traditionally used, but with a lighter footprint on the planet.”
Ford’s Fusion Energi was the perfect vehicle in which to implement this new technology. It’s Ford’s most fuel-efficient sedan, it can drive up to 21 miles in electric-only mode and its EPA-rated total range is up to 620 miles. Adding on PlantBottle made fabric proves even more Ford’s ability to give us globally sustainable products.
