Page 13 from: May 2015

N E W S

13May 2015

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Ford has pledged to incorporate
Repreve fi bre, made from 100% recycled
plastics, into its new F-150 pick-up
truck. The F-series are said to have been
the best-selling US trucks for the past
38 years, so Ford believes its initiative
‘could make a big difference’.
Ford has been working with Unifi since
2012 to incorporate Repreve, which it
describes as a ‘truly global material’,
into its vehicles and now uses it in fi ve
car models. ‘By substituting with this
recycled material, we will divert more
than five million plastic bottles from
landfi lls this year,’ the manufacturer says.
‘By using Repreve in the all-new Ford
F-150, we are reconfi rming our commit-
ment to using renewable and recyclable
materials in our vehicles,’ comments

Carol Kordich, Ford’s lead designer of
global sustainability materials strategy
development. ‘We are always looking for
ways to incorporate more innovative and
sustainable materials into our vehicles.’
Ford has sold more 33 million F-series
trucks since introducing the type in
1948. In ‘reinventing’ the newest model,
the company claims to have fi led more
than 100 patents.
The company currently uses eight renew-
able materials on the production line,
including soya bean and coconut residues,
rice hulls, wheat straw and cellulose fi bres.
Last June, Ford topped Interbrand’s list
of the 50 Best Global Green Brands,
nominated to acknowledge environmen-
tally responsible and sustainable manu-
facturing. www.ford.com

Ford ‘reinvents’ truck
with plastics fibre

It has probably been a while since
you last watched a fi lm on VHS, right?
The medium has been dubbed ‘obso-
lete’, but still there are 2.26 billion VHS
tapes gathering dust in basements, clos-
ets and attics all across the Canadian
state of Ontario.  A new project called
Get Reel aims to recycle this substantial
yet overlooked waste stream.
‘VHS tapes are 80% recyclable but most
end up in landfi lls because at the moment
there is no recycling plan,’ explains Philip
Yan, co-founder of the recycling project.
Besides plastics, VHS tapes include steel,
stainless steel and aluminium. Although

fairly easy to dismantle, the process
involves significant manual labour.
‘Research shows that there is no way to
automate the dismantling process and
the work needs to be done by hand,’ the
initiative’s organisers point out.
Yan and fellow project members have
opted to hire people with barriers to
employment – such as single parents or
new immigrants – to carry out the dis-
mantling of unwanted videos acquired
from retail locations. Yan is currently try-
ing to raise US$ 25 000 via a crowdfund-
ing campaign to propel the project to the
next level. www.projectgetreel.com

Get Reel tackles VHS
backlog

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