Competitive Green Technologies of Ontario turns coffee chaff into a resin used for headlamp housings
Photo: Ford Motor Company
Ford announced a new partnership with McDonald’s in December that sees the former using the latter’s coffee chaff to make vehicle components like headlamp housings. And while the partnership pairs two quintessentially American brands, the technology behind the innovative approach comes straight outta Canada.
The idea to use coffee bean skins comes from the University of Geulph in Ontario, where researchers discovered the method of repurposing chaff while looking for alternatives to conventional plastic polymers. After patenting the approach, Competitive Green Technologies in Waterloo offered up the use of its technologies to bring the idea to life.
“This is truly a Canadian invention,” Competitive Green Technologies CEO Atul Bali told Automotive News Canada. “We’re the only company in the whole world that is licensed to do this.”
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The approach isn’t just beneficial for Ford, but it also helps coffee roasters who typically have to burn or discard the chaff in fields. According to Bali, it takes 392,000 coffee bean skins to manufacture the housing unit for one headlight, cutting down considerably on waste.
“It was really a nuisance for coffee-roasting companies,” added Bali. “In fact, people were being paid to take it away.”
After the coffee chaff is turned to resin by CGT in Leamington, it’s sent to Plymouth, Michigan, and molded by Varroc Lighting Systems.
The headlight housings of this Mustang are made from coffee bean skins
Photo: Ford Motor Company
Ford and McDonald’s are both pushing for more sustainable practices in the years ahead. While Ford plans to move its manufacturing facilities to 100 percent renewable energy, McDonald’s is aiming to source 100 percent of its food packaging from renewable, recycled, or certified sources by 2025.
Ford’s innovations in sustainable manufacturing extend beyond this latest partnership. The automaker works with Jose Cuervo to use agave fibers to create bioplastics, recycles 1.2 billion plastic bottles each year for vehicle components, and is one of the industry’s innovators in the use of soy foam.
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