Starting with its new Bronco Sport SUV, Ford is now using 100 percent recycled ocean waste in its components. The Bronco Sport’s wiring harness clip is being made completely from ocean-harvested and recycled plastics also known as the “ghost gear”. With this Ford becomes the first automaker that is using 100 percent recycled oceanic waste for the manufacture of components for its vehicles. With Bronco Sport being the first car put under this initiative.
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2022 Ford Bronco Sport |
Model Specifications |
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Release Date |
Released |
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Price Range |
$27,265-$33,935 |
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Engine |
1.5-liter turbocharged inline-4, 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 |
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Power Output |
181 hp, 250 hp |
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Transmission |
8-speed automatic |
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Drivetrain |
AWD |
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Trims |
Base, Big Bend, Outer Banks, Badlands |
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Changes |
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According to the statistics, more than 13 million metric tons of plastic in the form of waste enter our marine ecosystem and oceans. This waste not only pollutes the oceans but is also life-threatening to marine fauna. The major contributor to this waste is the fishing industry and thus the plastic nets used for fishing make up for the majority of the oceanic waste. These free-floating nets are a constant threat to aquatic life as well as birds.
Thus Ford is taking these nets which are generally made up of nylon material which is not only very durable but also when used in the recycled form results in 10 percent cost saving compared to what it costs when you make a fresh product of the same material. These nylon nets are collected from the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea by a company named DSM Engineering Materials. The collected plastics are then cleaned, dried, and made into small pellets. The pellets are then further put into an injection-molding machine. This machine is run by a supplier named Hellermann Tyton which in turn converts the pellets into finished wiring harness clips.
In Jim Buczkowski, vice president of research and Henry Ford technical fellow, words, “This is another example of Ford leading the charge on sustainability,”. “It is a strong example of circular economy, and while these clips are small, they are an important first step in our explorations to use recycled ocean plastics for additional parts in the future.”
The wiring harness clip is then fastened to the sides of the second-row seats and used as a guide for the wires of the side-curtain airbags of the Bronco Sport SUV. The wiring harness weighs 5 grams and would result in the elimination of approximately 0.0000049 percent of oceanic waste. In the future, Ford is also planning to use recycled oceanic waste to further make components like wire shields, transmission brackets, and floor side rails.
That said, this isn’t the first time Ford has undertaken such an initiative. For the last twenty years, Ford has been using recycled waste in the manufacture of its automotive components. As per Ford officials, recently Ford has on the 2020 Ford Escape SUV started using recycled water bottles to make aerodynamic enhancing, lightweight, and noise reducing underbody shields.
The 2022 Ford Bronco Sport is a compact SUV which gets two engine options a 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-4 and a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4. The 2022 Bronco Sport is available in four trims namely base, Big Bend, Outer Banks, and Badlands. Prices of the 2022 Bronco Sport range between $27,265 to $33,935.
