That is the number of damaged bumpers that Ford managed to recycle last year and save from entering landfill.
That is the number of damaged bumpers that Ford managed to recycle last year and save from entering landfill.
The company's recycling scheme helped to ensure that the car parts - equivalent to 70 tonnes of landfill – did not do more to harm the environment.
With the initiative in place nationwide Ford managed to save dealers' time, inconvenience and money by reusing the plastic instead of unnecessarily scrapping it.
The manufacturer's dealers took the parts off accident-damaged vehicles last year and the result of the recycling created new bumpers and plastic components.
In addition, the surplus parts are placed in a container which the producer collects for free.
Mike Rivers, Ford's end of life vehicle manager, said the scheme had been an environmental success for the car developer.
He added that thousands of bumpers were recycled and made into new plastic parts last year that would have gone to landfill.
The initiative follows on from 2010 when the manufacturer announced that it was the first developer to use wheat straw-reinforced plastic in a vehicle.
And the environmentally-friendly material, which is 20 per cent wheat straw bio-filler, was used first of all on the Ford Flex's interior storage bins.
Additionally, the manufacturer claimed that the application could reduce CO2 emissions by 30,000 pounds per year and the usage of fuel by 20,000 pounds per year.
Patrick Berryman, a Ford engineering manager who develops interior trim, said the storage bin on the Flex was the "ideal first application" to try out the wheat straw product on.
One feature of the Ford Flex range is its 3.5-litre EcoBoost twin turbocharged direct injection V6 engine.
The EcoBoost function can achieve the power of a V8 engine - despite having the economy of a V6 - according to the producer.
And it works together with Direct Injection technology, which is designed to give off more power for every drop of fuel.
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