We’ve talked about the use of nonmetal recycled and biobased materials appearing on the inside and outside of Ford vehicles, and the new 2013 Fusion Hybrid and Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid and 2012 Focus Electric are no exceptions.
Unifi’s REPREVE® brand of recycled fibers are used in all three vehicles; REPREVE is made from a hybrid blend of post-industrial and post-consumer waste. Each Focus Electric seating interior contains the equivalent of about 22 recycled plastic bottles made of PET – polyethylene terephthalate, the technical name of the plastic of which the bottles are made – while Fusion hybrids feature nearly 42.
Unifi and Ford are also setting up plastic bottle collection points within Ford facilities in Michigan and California. The bottles could be part of the more than 2 million plastic bottles that will be recycled into REPREVE for fabrics in the Fusion and Focus Electric in their first model years.
Here’s where you come in: When you buy one of these three Ford vehicles, you can automatically give back to eco-charities. The REPREVE Gives Back program has four environmental nonprofits from which you can designate: Keep America Beautiful, Conservation Alliance, American Rivers and Rocky Mountain Institute.