Kickstart: Giving auto suppliers a break

Almost every auto supplier has a nightmare story about parts being returned because the color didn't quite match or there were visible knit lines.

But with the global auto industry strained by a lack of computer chips, at least one automaker is easing back on its requirements.

Reuters writes that Toyota Motor Corp. says it will be happy to accept parts with minor scratches and blemishes — especially for parts that won't typically be seen by buyers — as it tries to trims costs in the face of shortages and rising material costs.

That's a big change for an automaker known for its quality control and regimented production system.

"We are careful about the outside of our vehicles, the parts you can easily see. But there are plenty of places that people don't notice unless they really take a good look," Takefumi Shiga, Toyota's chief project leader for vehicle development, said during a press briefing, according to Reuters reporting.

Toyota is one of a few automakers that still has in-house molding, specifically so it can have greater control over parts that drivers regularly see, but in 2019 it began meeting with suppliers, including those in Tier 2 and Tier 3 of the supply chain, to ensure them that it will accept parts as long as blemishes can't be noticed and don't impact performance.

"A visit to a company making plastic seat belt parts reduced the number of those component being rejected by three-quarters," Reuters reported.

The newest issue of our sister paper Sustainable Plastics takes a deep dive into topics facing different companies involved in feedstocks and chemical recycling.

The November and December issue, available to download here, includes a discussion on steps taken by companies to build advanced recycling techniques for hard-to-recycle plastics and includes an interview with Mercedes Alonso, executive vice president, renewable polymers and chemicals at Neste, the Finland-based sustainable materials company.

Neste's work to move away from traditional feedstocks has been happening for decades, Alonso notes, with an initial push in 1994.

"Neste wanted to have a very clear strategic direction and took the decision — which at the time was quite bold and visionary — to look at how we could improve the effect of humans and the petrochemical industry on the environment," she said.

A shoe maker is staking out some new grounds for sustainability. Actually, I should say staking out recycled grounds since Rens US LLC is combining recycled PET with used coffee grounds for the material in its sneakers.

"Plastic pollution and food waste present real problems that we can help combat," the company says on its website.

Rens says the equivalent of six water bottles and 21 cups worth of coffee grounds go into each pair of its shoes.

But a part of me wants to echo a question Rens itself poses on its website: "Cool, but why?"

After all, beverage companies are racing to find a steady supply of recycled PET it can turn back into new bottles. And coffee grounds can be used in garden compost to improve your soil. But Rens has a response to its own question.

"By looking at the materials we use in a new way, we can not only reduce our impact but also unlock the full potential of these amazing materials beyond their initial purpose," Rens notes.