Ford and McDonald’s team up to convert coffee waste into car parts

Stopping in at McDonald’s for that morning cup of coffee is part of the daily routine of millions of Americans. Now, Ford Motor Company and McDonald’s have paired up to turn a byproduct of your morning joe into parts that will soon go into millions of Ford production cars.

McDonald’s serves up tens of millions of cups of coffee every year, and that means roasting tens of millions of pounds of coffee beans. A byproduct of coffee roasting is coffee chaff, the dried skin of the bean, which usually drops off during the roasting process and is discarded. Always looking for new ways to reduce waste that might end up in landfills, Ford recently developed a process that converts the coffee bean chaff, when mixed with other additives, into pellets that can be molded into sturdy plastic car parts, including headlamp and taillight housings and more.

Ford says the resulting parts are about 20 percent lighter than conventional plastic components, and take 25 percent less energy to produce, while still meeting Ford’s rigorous standards.

“McDonald’s commitment to innovation was impressive to us and matched our own forward-thinking vision and action for sustainability,” said Debbie Mielewski, Ford senior technical leader, sustainability and emerging materials research team. “This has been a priority for Ford for over 20 years, and this is an example of jump starting the closed-loop economy, where different industries work together and exchange materials that otherwise would be side or waste products.”

McDonald’s has pledged to divert a significant portion of their yearly coffee chaff waste to Ford, so it can be turned into high-quality car parts.

“Like McDonald’s, Ford is committed to minimizing waste and we’re always looking for innovative ways to further that goal,” said Ian Olson, senior director, global sustainability, McDonald’s. “By finding a way to use coffee chaff as a resource, we are elevating how companies together can increase participation in the closed-loop economy.”

This collaboration by auto giant Ford and fast food giant McDonald’s is the latest innovative collaboration by the companies, aimed at building a cleaner and more sustainable future. Ford has long been on the cutting edge of sustainable production techniques, including prototype plastic car parts produced from corn that were developed by Ford founder Henry Ford before World War II.

Ford is working in partnership with supplier Varroc Lighting Systems, which produces a variety of headlamp assemblies for the company, to develop the coffee-based plastic assemblies. McDonald’s meanwhile, is working to meet the goal of sourcing 100 percent of their packaging from recycled, renewable or sustainable sources by 2025.

From the incredible 2021 Mustang Mach E all-electric SUV to headlight assemblies made from a restaurant byproduct that would otherwise be thrown away, Ford’s commitment to building a more sustainable future is one more reason McLarty Daniel Ford of Bentonville is proud to sell quality Ford cars, trucks and SUVs. Want to drive the future today? Stop in at McLarty Daniel Ford for a test drive, or check out our full selection of advanced Ford vehicles at our website right now.