Plastic soda bottles- your new car seat cover

Ford Explores 'Suede' Fabrics Made From Pop Bottles, Nanotechnology, and More
Ford Motor Co., which is turning recycling plastic soda bottles into suede-like fabrics for vehicle interiors, is wading deeper into bio-based materials with soy-based rubber fillers and plastics that can biodegrade in 90 to 120 days -- compared to 1,000 years for conventional petroleum-based plastic.

The company introduced soy-based polyurethane foam seat cushions and backs in 2007, and has since included the cushions in more than a million vehicles, with a million more planned this year. The switch has avoided more than 5 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.

A soy-foam headliner is destined for the 2010 Escape and Mariner models. Now under development is rubber made with soy protein fillers instead of petroleum-based fillers for door seals, floor mats, gaskets and splash shields.
Other examples of innovative materials in use at Ford include recycled and reassembled ebony wood used in Lincoln vehicles, such as the Navigator.

The resins from used detergent bottles, tires and battery casings are also recycled into underbody systems, including aerodynamic shields, splash shields and radiator deflector shields. All 2009 models in North America will use recycled resin.

The 2010 Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids will sport seat fabrics made from 100 percent post-industrial recycled yarns, which will reduce energy consumption 64 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent.

Twenty used soda bottles make one meter of the faux suede fabric used for the seats of the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO and Lincoln MKZ models.

To read more on what Ford is doing: http://www.ford.com/about-ford/news-announcements/press-releases/press-releases-detail/pr-ford-builds-on-ecofriendly-30398