From Carpet To Cars: Nylon Repurposed USING ECOLON" Ne SAVES MORE PAE eeoy) (ole) CONSUMED Bik /2001 i", wT FOR MORE INFORMATION,GO TO MEDIA.FORD.CO! Using recycled carpeting for cylinder head covers helped to save more than 4.1 million pounds of carpet from landfills. (NAPSA)—From the materials found underyour feet to the materials covering your engine, car- makers are finding new ways to protect the environment. The carpet underfoot in homes sometimes ends up in strange places, and nowefforts to use sustainable materials in vehicles have landed carpet in another unique spot—the cylinder head covers on some engines. This is resulting in some impressive benefits for the environment. For example, last year, the use of EcoLon material, a nylon resin made from 100 percent recycled carpet, saved more than 4.1 million pounds of carpet from landfills, the equivalent of nearly 154 football fields. It also amounted to recycling more than 985,000 yards of carpet and reducing the consumption of more than 430,000 gallonsofoil. The EcoLon material from Wellman Engineering Resins offers an eco-friendly, high-quality alternative to typical cylinder headcovers. It is used by Ford in severalof its cars and is one example of the company’s continued dedication to finding renewable material solutions for use in its vehicles. The cylinder head covers are used on the 3.0-liter Duratec engine in Ford Fusion and Escape. They can also be found on the 5.0-liter engine, which powers Mustang and F-150. The cover is the first automotive product of its kind manufactured from postconsumerrecycled nylon. To repurpose nylon, used nylon carpeting is ground into fiber and the material is recaptured through a patented, proprietary process. The resulting product is a high-quality nylon resin, which Dana Holding Corporation then molds into cylinder head covers through its injection-molding process. Eco-Friendly Solutions Ford’s “Reduce, reuse and recycle” commitmentis part of the company’s broader global sustainability strategy to reduce its environmen- tal footprint, while at the same time accelerating the development of advanced, fuel-efficient vehicle technologies around the world. Over the past several years, the company has concentrated on increasing the use of nonmetal recycled and bio-based materials, including soy foam seat cushions, recycled resins for underbody systems, recycled yarns on seat covers, and natural-fiber plastic for interior components.
