Don’t say you were not warned. Earlier this year IM reported that mineral filler producers had been placed on alert following PSA Peugeot-Citro‘n’s announcement to use plastics filled with organically derived lighter material in order to reduce the environmental impact of automobiles (IM May 2010: Peugeot-Citro‘n to cut mineral consuming plastics). Now Ford has followed suit.
At the recently held 8th Global WPC and Natural Fibre Composites Congress and Exhibition, in Stuttgart-Fellbach, Ford Motor Co.’s research centre in Germany, Ford Forschungszentrum, revealed that it is getting closer to using more natural fibre filled plastics in its autoplastics.
Ford is looking to use polypropylene (PP) reinforced sisal fibres, at 30% loading, for injection moulding. The 30% sisal fibre reinforced components have already passed Ford’s crash and head impact specifications.
And here’s the rub for mineral suppliers. A...