COLOGNE, Germany—Olive trees bear a fruit that is consumed all over the world as snacks, oil and tapenades. Engineers at Ford Motor Co. are also developing ways to turn branches, twigs and leaves that are discarded during olive harvesting into sustainable auto parts.

The trial was conducted as part of the COMPOlive project that focused on creating environmental changes in olive production, using biocomposites instead of plastic and supporting the circular economy.

Using olive tree waste for auto parts could both reduce the plastic used in such parts and support cleaner air quality in Italy, Spain and other countries by avoiding burning as a means of waste disposal.

“We’re always looking for ways to become more sustainable, and sometimes inspiration can strike from the most unlikely places,” says Inga Wehmeyer, an engineer leading the project at Ford Europe.

“In using the waste from olive trees, we have been able to substitute a significant amount of petroleum-based raw material in the interior parts,” explains Wehmeyer. “The sustainable fibers create a unique surface appearance and would be directly visible to our customers.”

Wehmeyer and her colleagues produced prototype footrests and parts of the trunk area using olive tree waste. Testing has determined that the parts are durable and robust. Ford is evaluating the production process for possible future use in next-generation electric vehicles.

For the trial, the waste materials were sourced from olive groves in Andalusia, Spain, the region with the highest production of olive oil in the world.

“To get the mix just right, we had to experiment with different ratios of waste material and polypropylene,” says Thomas Baranowski, a plastic injection molding engineer at Ford. “It was hard work, but it ultimately enabled us to produce a material that shows no compromise in strength, durability or flexibility.”