Going the Greener Route: Huge Car Companies Ford and Jaguar Turn Aluminum Trash Into Usable Car Parts

Ford and Jaguar are taking major steps to lessen their carbon footprint by producing car models made of recycled aluminum. The two companies claim that the Ford F-150 and the Jaguar XE are largely made of high-quality aluminum recycled from old metal.

In a press release from Ford,  the carmaker says it recycles 20 million pounds of aluminum scrap every month using its self-devised scheme.

"Weight savings from aluminum alloy helps F-150 reduce its lifetime emissions compared to the previous steel-body version. Between 30 percent and 40 percent of a typical aluminum coil is turned into scrap in the stamping process. This is recycled into new metal for the truck using the closed-loop system," the press release says.

Because of its environmental value and high-aluminum strength among other features, the Ford F-150 pickup truck is helping spike up the sales of Ford. As reported by MarketWatch, Ford announced last Thursday its net income of $2.45 billion in the quarter up from $1.29 billion last year.

On the other hand, the Jaguar XE, a compact sports sedan, is almost made entirely of aluminum that is 6000-series alloy, making it lightweight and Jaguar's "most fuel efficient mode,l" particularly the Jaguar 20XD.

"The XE is as strong and light as it could possibly be thanks to exhaustive analysis and by bringing the latest engineering techniques to bear on its design. It has been challenging to accomplish but the XE structure is absolutely at the cutting edge of what is achievable today," Jaguar Chief Technical Specialist, Dr. Mark White said in Jaguar's press release.

According to a report in Yahoo Tech, the Ford F-150 is selling more in the market than the Jaguar XE which just expanded its sales to Europe. Nevertheless, both companies are working to lower carbon footprint and further save energy to reach their respective environmental goals.