Every year,
McDonald's produces more than 62 million pounds
of coffee chaff.
That's the unused dried skin that comes off of coffee beans
during the roasting process.
And that 62 million pounds used to go straight to landfills.
But now, Ford is taking that chaff from McDonald's
and turning it into car parts.
Almost 140 million tons of solid waste
was sent to US landfills in 2017.
And when that waste hits a landfill,
it creates a pile of trash that is impossible to take back.
And incinerating the waste creates carbon dioxide
and other greenhouse-gas emissions
that are harmful to the environment.
But some materials don't have to end up in landfills,
like coffee chaff.
McDonald's partnered with Ford's research team,
which was already using agave, wheat, tomatoes,
and even denim byproducts to make car parts.
The team discovered that chaff could also be used
to make car parts,
especially ones that need to withstand high temperatures,
like headlights and car battery covers.
When the coffee chaff is heated to high temperatures
and mixed with plastic and other additives,
it turns into a material that can be formed
into various shapes.
Not only will less waste go to landfills,
but using the chaff actually benefits Ford vehicles.
Its headlights were made up of plastic and talc,
a mineral that has to be mined.
But now, the coffee chaff replaces some of the talc,
making the car part 20% lighter.
Molding the coffee chaff also uses 25% less energy
than the previous material combination.
The chaff component meets all durability
and performance requirements,
and it can withstand high temperatures
much better than talc.
So, how is Ford turning coffee bean skins into headlights?
It all starts where the coffee beans
are grown - South America.
The beans are collected and then shipped to the roasters.
When the roasters roast the beans, the skin comes off.
The coffee chaff is collected and shipped
to Competitive Green Technologies,
a biotechnology company in Ontario, Canada.
This is where the coffee chaff and plastic are mixed.
The mixed material is then shipped
to a company called Varroc,
which molds and assembles the headlights.
The company uses a process called injection molding.
Pellets made from plastic and chaff
are combined in the machine.
The material is heated and mixed,
then shot into a mold
and placed under pressure that forms the shape of the part.
Each headlight takes 30 to 60 seconds to form.
The final step is to ship the headlights to Ford,
where they get added to the cars.
Ford began installing the headlights
in its Lincoln Continental cars in December 2019.
Other model cars are expected to follow.
But this doesn't eliminate
the environmental problem entirely.
At the end of a car's life,
some parts will still end up in landfills
since they're still made out of plastic.
Ford and McDonald's plan to reduce that waste
by substituting traditional plastic with recycled plastic.
And Ford hopes to have 100% recycled
and sustainable plastic on its vehicles by 2035.
The sustainability efforts don't stop there.
Ford is also looking into
using other McDonald's waste products,
like orange and potato peels.
So who knows...
Maybe one day, we'll be driving cars
made completely from fast-food waste.