From Compost to Car Parts

Known for their creative use of food products, Ford has found another unexpected material that it can use to make car parts. It’s a byproduct in the production of ketchup. Yes, ketchup.

Ford says it has a deal with H.J. Heinz to use study whether the stuff left over from making ketchup, like dried tomato skins, seeds and stems, can be used to make composites. Sounds crazy? Well, Ford thinks the skins alone could make wiring brackets or center console storage bins. Heinz has a lot of skins. It processes 2 million pounds of tomatoes a year.

The idea is the outgrowth of a two-year collaboration between Ford and Heinz that also has included Coca-Cola, Nike and Procter & Gamble.

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