Of course this is not something that many of us would normally think about, but apparently the pruning of olive trees creates up to seven million tons of waste each year.
But could food waste such as this instead be re-purposed? That’s the exact question posed by a new research project led by Ford engineers in Cologne, Germany.
The team produced car parts from the olive tree wastage, which they found to be durable. They believe initiatives like this could lead to lighter vehicle parts that reduce the amount of plastic used.
Not only that but it could also reduce the carbon footprint of car parts and bring the company closer to its goal of using more recycled and renewable content in its vehicles.
This research trial formed part of the COMPOlive project designed to demonstrate the impact of using materials made from recycled and renewable materials in car parts.
The waste materials were sourced from olive groves in Andalusia, Spain, the region with the highest production of olive oil in the world. The prototype parts consisted of 40% olive tree fibers and 60% recycled polypropylene plastic, the substance was heated and injection moulded into the shape of the selected part.
This is not the first time that Ford has explored the use of sustainable materials for car parts. In fact some other initiatives have made it into production Ford vehicles, such as industry-first soybean based foam seats and headrests, post-consumer recycled materials - including yogurt cups - in the Ford Mustang Mach-E frunk insert and recycled ocean plastic in wiring harness clips in Ford Bronco Sport .
“Alongside our partners across the globe, Ford is making measurable progress toward ambitious environmental sustainability targets,” Ford said.