(WASHINGTON) — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Wednesday that certain establishments, including restaurants, bars, nightclubs, gyms, events and meeting spaces, will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination beginning in January.
Patrons above the age of 12 will be required to be partially vaccinated by Jan. 15 and fully vaccinated by Feb. 15.
“If you are a resident that is not yet vaccinated and you want to continue enjoying these activities, now is the time to get vaccinated,” Bowser said.
Citing new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting omicron as now the dominant strain in the U.S., D.C. Department of Health official Patrick Ashley said it was only “a matter of time” before that played out in the district, which currently has 25 confirmed cases of the new variant.
Ashley also pointed to huge spikes in the weekly and daily case rate in D.C. from a month ago, attributing them, in part, to the winter surge and the omicron variant.
A month ago, D.C. reported a daily case rate of 13.7 cases per 100,000 people. As of Wednesday, the rate had jumped nine times to 123.8 cases per 100,000 people.
Bowser noted that some exceptions to the new mandate will be made for patrons not staying long at a restaurant, for example, a patron picking up an order.
The move follows in the footsteps of other major U.S. cities like New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles that have similar vaccine requirements.
Approved proof of vaccination includes vaccination cards or photos of vaccination cards, immunization records or verification apps like CLEAR and VaxYes.
Further guidelines on the requirements are still to come, Bowser said. Wednesday’s initial announcement of the new guidelines was made to give businesses enough time to prepare.
Bowser also announced that to meet the increased testing demand among residents, the district will order another five million rapid antigen tests, for a total of six million.
Students in D.C. schools will also have to be immunized beginning March 1, following regulations from the D.C. Council.
Bowser also encouraged residents to celebrate safe holidays and asked people to have small gatherings, wear masks and gather outdoors.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he was extending the pause on student loan repayments an extra 90 days, taking the pause into May ahead of its expiration at the end of next month.
Since March 2020, tens of millions of Americans have been able to hold off making regular payments on their federal student loans thanks to a pause, put in place first by the Trump administration, due to the pandemic.
The Biden administration had previously extended the pause through the end of January 2022, calling that move in August a “final extension.”
Democrats on Capitol Hill had pressured Biden to extend the pause as the pandemic stretched on.
“We know that millions of student loan borrowers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payments,” Biden said in a written statement on Wednesday.
“Given these considerations, today my Administration is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments for an additional 90 days — through May 1, 2022 — as we manage the ongoing pandemic and further strengthen our economic recovery,” Biden said.
“Meanwhile, the Department of Education will continue working with borrowers to ensure they have the support they need to transition smoothly back into repayment and advance economic stability for their own households and for our nation.”
Biden also asked student loan borrowers “to do their part as well,” including looking into public service loan forgiveness plans and exploring “options to lower your payments through income-based repayment plans.”
Biden noted that Vice President Harris had been “closely focused on” this issue.
When he became president, Biden extended the pause through September, and in August, he extended it again until Jan. 31, 2022. Until recently, the White House had indicated it was not planning to extend it again.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in a press briefing on Wednesday that “as much as we know that there’s been a lot of progress in the economy, we know that… millions of people across the country are still struggling with the ongoing threat of the pandemic. Many of them are student loan borrowers.”
She also said the decision was not a reaction to how the president’s key social spending bill, Build Back Better, lost the key support of West Virginia’s Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday, and said that the administration and Democrats are “still forging ahead” to get Build Back Better done.
Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley released a statement applauding Biden’s decision to extend the student loan payment pause.
But they also echoed their calls for Biden to go even further.
“Extending the pause will help millions of Americans make ends meet, especially as we overcome the Omicron variant,” they wrote.
“We continue to call on President Biden to take executive action to cancel $50,000 in student debt, which will help close the racial wealth gap for borrowers and accelerate our economic recovery.”
Schumer and other Congressional Democrats have been calling on President Biden to use executive authority to cancel $50,000 in student debt for all borrowers.
(NEW YORK) — A month after the omicron variant was first identified, it has become the dominant strain in the United States, responsible for about three-quarters of new COVID infections.
As of Wednesday, cases have been identified in 49 states and Washington, D.C. South Dakota has not reported any omicron infections yet.
While there is still much to learn about omicron, more research is being done every day furthering health officials’ understanding of this highly transmissible variant.
Spreads more easily than any other variant
A growing body of evidence suggests the omicron variant may spread more easily than any other variant identified during the pandemic.
Health officials, such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, say early data shows omicron doubles in prevalence every two to three days.
This is much faster than the delta variant which, at its peak, had a doubling time of about seven days.
“This is an incredibly fast-moving variant,” Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said. “We only identified it on Thanksgiving and it’s already the dominant variant in the U.S. The level of certainty we have in the U.S. that it is more transmissible than any variant before is high.”
Omicron partially impacts vaccines, but a booster helps
Omicron seems to evade — at least partially — protection offered by COVID-19 vaccines more easily than previous variants, but it’s unclear by how much. However, studies have been showing boosters help restore much of that lost protection
Preliminary data from Pfizer-BioNTech showed that people who received two doses of their vaccine had low levels of neutralizing antibodies against the variant.
Those who received their booster shot, however, saw their levels of antibodies increase 25-fold compared to pre-boost levels.
Additionally, early data from Moderna released on Monday showed its 50-microgram booster increases antibody levels 37-fold.
Two-dose vaccines still dramatically reduce the risk of severe illness and death, health officials say.
”It’s still an open question about what relative protection you get,” Brownstein said. “It appears vaccines still provide incredible protection around severe illness and death, especially if boosted.”
Additionally, it does not appear that previous COVID infection protects against reinfection from omicron the same way that it did against the delta variant.
A recent study from Imperial College London, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, suggests that the risk of infection with omicron is five times higher than with delta.
Monoclonal antibodies are less effective, but not pills
Treatments also appear to have been affected by the emergence of omicron.According to a readout of this week’s private call between U.S. governors and the White House, which was obtained by ABC News, two of three monoclonal antibody therapies used to treat COVID are less effective against the new variant.
The antibody treatments made by Regeneron and Eli Lilly are not as effective while the third option, made by Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline, may be effective but in short supply.
Dr. Anthony Fauci stated that pills produced by Merck and Pfizer do not appear to be impacted by omicron, according to the readout.
Too early to tell if omicron causes severe illness
Health officials still do not know if omicron causes mild or severe illness.
Studies that have been published have offered conflicting findings. A study from South Africa found that the risk of hospitalization for adults was 30% lower compared to the delta-fueled surge during the fall.
But the study from ICL found that omicron did not show any signs of being milder than delta.
In a recent statement, the World Health Organization said it’s too early to say whether omicron causes more mild or severe illness.
So far, only one death from the omicron variant has been identified: An unvaccinated Texas man in his 50s who had previously been infected with the virus. It’s important to remember that not every COVID-related death is reported to health authorities.
Until we learn more about omicron, Brownstein said the best way to protect ourselves is to follow mitigation measures that are known to work, including vaccination and mask-wearing.
“The No. 1 thing that people can do is make sure they’re vaccinated and boosted. That is still our absolute No. 1 line of defense,” he said. “Use rapid tests as a way to identify if you may be contagious and wear a high-quality mask in indoor settings, especially if you’re around people with unknown vaccination status.”
ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.
Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — An at-home treatment for COVID-19 that can prevent serious illness was authorized by the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday, offering a note of optimism for the future of the pandemic as the world faces the omicron variant.
When taken early, Pfizer’s pill was 89% effective at reducing the risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19, according to the company, and was effective against omicron.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla estimated that 1,200 deaths and 6,000 hospitalizations would be prevented for every 100,000 COVID-19 patients who take the pills.
The FDA said the pill, Paxlovid, was authorized for the treatment of mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease in anyone 12 years and older who weighs at least about 88 pounds. Patients must test positive and be at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death.
Paxlovid will be available by prescription only and should be started as soon as possible, ideally within five days of symptom onset, the FDA said.
“This authorization provides a new tool to combat COVID-19 at a crucial time in the pandemic as new variants emerge and promises to make antiviral treatment more accessible to patients who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19,” Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a press release.
The treatment course requires taking several pills, twice per day, for five days.
The government has ordered 10 million pills of Pfizer’s Paxlovid and another treatment pill, Merck’s Molnupiravir, which has yet to be authorized.
The order will come in as it’s produced, with some doses available upon FDA authorization, White House COVID coordinator Jeff Zients told governors on a call Tuesday.
The federal government has already contracted with Pfizer to purchase the pills at $530 a course, or $5.3 billion.
There is not expected to be any direct cost to patients.
The pills offer hope, particularly as the omicron variant spreads rapidly across the U.S.
Vaccination and booster shots are the best defense against omicron, offering up to 80% protection by some estimates, and unvaccinated Americans will be hit hardest by the surge. But there will also be more breakthrough infections among vaccinated people because of omicron’s mutations.
“While not a replacement for vaccines, the emergence of new variants has highlighted the need for new therapeutic lines of defense,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and ABC News contributor.
“The combination of low friction access and high efficacy means that we finally have a therapy that can make a real impact on the trajectory of this pandemic,” he said.
Public health experts and the pharmaceutical companies who make the pills also have been firm that the treatments alleviate illness — they do not prevent it. Vaccines do, and they’re still the safest, most effective option to stay out of the hospital.
“I want to emphasize that no one should use the existence of the pill as an excuse to avoid vaccination,” Bourla, Pfizer’s CEO, said.
The U.S. will also likely face some hurdles in the initial rollout — another reason they shouldn’t be relied upon as an alternative to vaccination.
One concern is that the pills need to be taken early, which means patients will need a positive test and a doctor’s appointment very soon after they get sick. Testing delays and overburdened hospital systems could make that more challenging.
They are most effective “before a person becomes critically ill,” said Dr. Paul Currier, director of the Respiratory Acute Care Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Once a patient becomes critically ill, the virus has already caused a lot of inflammation in the body that likely cannot be stopped by medicines that only target the virus itself.”
But pharmaceutical executives are optimistic that the pills will make a significant dent in the pandemic.
Pfizer’s pill has the “potential to save the lives of patients around the world,” Bourla said.
ABC News’ Dr. Navjot Kaur Sobti contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — As Afghanistan spirals further toward a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, the international community is allowing greater exemptions to aid groups to try to alleviate the suffering.
The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution Wednesday to grant humanitarian exemptions to their sanctions on the Taliban, which seized control of Afghanistan this summer after nearly two decades of war with the U.S.-backed government.
In addition, the U.S. Treasury Department announced it has expanded its general licenses to more explicitly allow aid groups to work in Afghanistan, including to support civil society, human rights, and education.
But while both steps were welcomed, many aid groups, U.N. agencies, and U.S. lawmakers, including Democrats, say it is not enough, as more than half of Afghanistan’s 39 million people face acute hunger.
“While this move will enable an essential increase in humanitarian aid, this alone is not sufficient to stave off economic collapse and humanitarian unraveling,” David Miliband, president and CEO of the aid group International Rescue Committee, said after the U.N. vote.
The Biden administration has defended U.S. sanctions against the Taliban — designated by the Treasury as a terrorist organization — and instead blamed Afghanistan’s economic woes on decades of dependence on humanitarian aid, an ongoing drought and COVID-19, and the militant group’s takeover of the country.
A senior administration official said the U.S. was working to mitigate the crisis, but said it is on the Taliban to govern now, address the country’s economic challenges, and meet its commitments if it wants international aid, including on securing women’s and girl’s rights, halting reprisal killings, and countering terrorism.
The Taliban have said international sanctions must be lifted, calling them “punishment of the common people,” in the words of Suhail Shaheen — a longtime spokesperson who the Taliban have cast as their U.N. ambassador, although the group’s government is not recognized.
Afghanistan’s economy has contracted by 40 percent, according to some estimates, with inflation now putting everyday items out of reach for many. Foreign aid, which accounted for some 75 percent of the collapsed former government’s funding and 40 percent of the country’s GDP, has been halted and the government accounts, frozen. Banks have shut down or limited access to funds, with many global financial institutions afraid to run afoul of U.S. and U.N. sanctions. That means salaries, especially for public sector employees like teachers, have not been paid for months, and unemployment has skyrocketed.
With this economic collapse comes real suffering. The U.N. has warned as many as 90 percent of Afghans could be in poverty by next year, and as many as one million children could die this winter from starvation.
Among them could be Mohammed, who at two-years old weighs just 11 pounds — the bones in his face visible as he struggles to eat in a Kabul hospital. His mother unable to afford the medicine he needs, he is one boy among the many Afghans struggling across the country.
“The previous government was bad, but this government is even worse because they have cut our food. Nobody has mercy on us,” a former shopkeeper waiting in line to access food aid told ABC News last week.
That government has done little to deal with U.S. and international concerns about its violent tactics, repression of women and other minorities, and even its ability to govern.
But it’s also clear that U.S. and U.N. sanctions have slowed cash flowing into the country, including the former government’s funds at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Last week, the U.S. and others facilitated a deal to transfer $280 million from the World Bank’s funds to UNICEF and the World Health Organization to provide humanitarian aid — the first of its kind transfer that could set an example for future transactions, but a drop in the bucket compared to the need, per aid groups.
“To ensure that humanitarian work can continue to scale, it is critical that sanction regimes do not hold back operations. Transactions on which humanitarian activities depend must be safeguarded,” the U.N.’s relief chief Martin Griffiths tweeted Wednesday.
Democratic lawmakers have joined those criticisms, with over three dozen urging the Biden administration in a letter Monday to reverse policies that “could cause more civilian deaths in the coming year than were lost in 20 years of war.” They called for the U.S. to provide Afghanistan’s central bank access to the $9.8 billion of Afghanistan’s currency reserves held in the U.S. and “more explicit reassurances” to give aid groups space to operate.
But so far, Biden’s team has shown no interest in doing so. The senior administration official told reporters the U.S. will maintain financial pressure on the Taliban and its leadership, as it seeks to ensure money gets to the Afghan people instead.
ABC News’s Ian Pannell contributed to this report from Kabul.
(ALBANY, N.Y.) — With COVID-19 cases in New York state reaching all-time highs, demand for testing has increased as well, bringing with it concerns of price gouging and falsely advertised turnaround times.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office issued an alert Tuesday asking consumers to report any potential price gouging of at-home testing kits after the office received some reports of testing kits being sold for double or triple their retail price.
The office said it has received reports of BinaxNOW brand tests being “unlawfully” sold for between $40 to $70 per package, when the tests typically cost between $14 to $24 at stores such as Walgreens.
“As New York sees an exponential rise in COVID-19 cases, more and more New Yorkers are looking for at-home tests and other tools in the fight against the coronavirus,” James said in a statement. “If New Yorkers see exorbitant price increases on testing kits or other goods vital and necessary for health, safety and welfare, they are encouraged to report it [to] my office immediately. And fraudsters are on notice that if they attempt to price gouge during this new surge, we will not hesitate to take action.”
New York law prohibits merchants from taking unfair advantage of consumers by selling products “vital to their health, safety or welfare for an ‘unconscionably excessive’ price,” according to James’ office.
The attorney general also announced Tuesday it issued a warning to Brooklyn-based LabQ Diagnostics for allegedly misrepresenting its COVID-19 test turnaround time.
In a letter to the lab, which has mobile locations throughout New York City, the attorney general said some consumers have reportedly been waiting over 96 hours for COVID-19 test results to come back, even though the lab advertised that results would come back within 48 hours.
The letter, dated Monday, instructed the lab to update its website and signage at its test sites “immediately” to reflect how long people can expect to wait before they receive their test results.
“LabQ’s own website states, ‘Turnaround Time Matters,’ but so does being honest with consumers,” James said. “LabQ and all other labs should ensure that they are giving consumers accurate information about when to expect test results.”
LabQ did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
As of Tuesday afternoon, LabQ’s website says consumers can expect their results within one to five days, “due to a significant increase in COVID testing.” Earlier on Tuesday, it had stated that consumers could expect their results within one to four days.
The attorney general’s office also asked LabQ to contact all customers currently awaiting test results to inform them when they should expect to get them, according to the letter addressed to LabQ.
“We appreciate that there is undoubtedly an increase in demand for COVID-19 testing due to the holidays and omicron variant. However, it remains important, especially during the holidays, to advertise and otherwise convey accurate information to consumers about when they can receive their test results so that they can plan accordingly,” Mary Alestra, special counsel for the attorney general’s office, said in the letter.
(NEW YORK) — With on-site work in a state of flux due to the pandemic, small towns, big towns, regions and even states, have launched programs to incentivize people to move.
Anela Malik and Ahmed Zuhairy have worked from their home in Washington, D.C., for over a year. They say that over the course of the pandemic, what they were looking for in a hometown, has changed.
“Though we loved our apartments, our various apartments over the years, they were all really small. With two people and two cats that were now working from home, fighting for space on calls, and trying not to interrupt each other’s Zooms,” said Malik. “Our life shifted dramatically during the last year.”
Anela Malik is a social media influencer and her husband, Ahmed Zuhairy, is a financial crimes analyst. They said they were looking to find more space, a good community and a place that suited their other interests outside of work.
“[My husband] really wants to be in a place with a great cycling infrastructure. We both really like nature,” said Malik. “I was looking for a place that had a thriving or at least a growing food scene. When we started our Google searches, Northwest Arkansas came up every single time.”
The couple decided to take advantage of an incentive program in Northwest Arkansas called, “Life Works Here,” that offered $10,000 and a credit that can be used at any local shop that piques interest. The two were chosen for the program out of more than 35,000 applicants.
“I filled out the application late at night on a whim and then we booked a trip here and right before we came, they notified us we were selected,” said Zuhairy. “So that was on our minds when we visited, but I would say that, in my view, it was the people here that made up our minds for us.”
Malik and Zuhairy signed a lease in October for their new home in Lowell, Arkansas, a town with a population less than 10,000.
The “Life Works Here” program was launched in November 2020 and only 64 applicants have been accepted, according to Nelson Peacock, the CEO and president of the Northwest Arkansas Council.
“People are finding that they can come here, have an exciting employment opportunity, just live their life and excel here,” said Peacock, who oversees the program. “And so I think that’s what we’re taking advantage of.”
Peacock said that the program focuses on accepting three different categories of professionals: remote workers, STEM workers and creative entrepreneurs.
“We also want to bring in these entrepreneurs so they can build, grow, and scale their companies to help us with job growth in the future,” said Peacock. “And then the creatives to help us build out a well-rounded quality of life here.”
Northwest Arkansas isn’t the only place taking advantage of newfound remote-work flexibility and offering incentives to urge people to relocate.
Tyler Jaggers, a 41-year-old video game designer, moved from his home in San Jose, California, to Topeka, Kansas, in October 2020.
He said the high cost of housing in Silicon Valley was a wake-up call.
After applying to the “Choose Topeka” relocation incentive grant, Jaggers was awarded $10,000 and decided to trade in his small rented California apartments for a house that he owns.
“There would be almost 20 people living in the same house where people were renting couches,” said Jaggers. “For me, when I saw that, I was like, ‘It’s time to start investing in my own personal, long-erm existence.'”
“Why would someone give you $10,000 if they don’t want you there, right?” he added.
Jaggers bought a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Topeka for $47,000.
“The real part of the move that was so exciting to me was the idea of home ownership,” said Jaggers.
In order to keep the awarded $10,000, relocated residents have to stay in Topeka for a minimum of a year.
It’s been a little over a year since Jaggers made the move, and he said he has no plans to leave anytime soon.
“I’m not planning on flipping this house, ever. I’m not planning on moving ever. It’s the best living experience I’ve ever had in my life,” said Jaggers, who is almost finished renovating his new home and continues to work remotely for a video game company.
Jaggers said that the pandemic forced him to rethink about what he values in a home.
“The pandemic years made me make the best decisions I’ve ever made and actually gave me that nudge to grow up in a sense,” said Jaggers.
Back in Arkansas, for Anela Malik and Ahmed Zuhairy it’s still too early to tell whether or not the move was the best decision for them, but they said they’re only optimistic.
“I think a lot of young people right now, especially, are thinking about leaving the bigger cities, because our work has changed so much, so our home lives also need to change to accommodate that,” said Malik.
She said one of the most important things to think about when thinking about relocating is to consider the community.
“I would say just make sure that you could imagine your life in that community and there are a lot of incentive programs out there,” she said. “And that is an opportunity. But just make sure you could imagine your life in that place.”
(NEW YORK) — U.S. traffic safety regulators have launched a formal probe into certain Tesla vehicles after reports emerged that drivers can play video games on the car’s touchscreen while in motion.
A spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday that the agency has opened a preliminary evaluation into certain Tesla vehicles, including the Model 3, S, X and Y, that were produced between 2017 and 2022.
The investigation seeks to “evaluate the driver distraction potential of Tesla ‘Passenger Play,'” the spokesperson told ABC News in a statement.
“NHTSA based its decision on reports that Tesla’s gameplay functionality is visible from the driver’s seat and can be enabled while driving the vehicle,” the statement added.
The agency said it has received one owner complaint describing the gameplay functionality and has confirmed that this capability has been available since December 2020 in Tesla “Passenger Play”-equipped vehicles. Prior to this, enabling gameplay was only possible when the vehicle was in park, according to the NHTSA.
The agency said it seeks to evaluate scenarios in which a driver could interact with the “Passenger Play” feature through its investigation.
Earlier this month, the New York Times published an investigation into Tesla’s video game features highlighting the so-called “passenger play” option. The report stated that an update in Tesla’s software package added at least three games drivers could access while the car was in drive — and that in a warning that appears before the game starts, Tesla signals it is aware of this and that “playing while the car is in motion is only for passengers.” The outlet reports a button asks if the player is a passenger, but a driver can also play by simply touching it.
Distracted driving has been blamed for the deaths of more than 3,000 people in 2019, according to separate data compiled by the NHTSA.
Tesla, which previously disbanded its media relations team, did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on Wednesday.
In its statement to ABC News, the NHTSA added that it “reminds the public that no commercially available motor vehicles today can drive themselves.”
“Every available vehicle requires the human driver to be in control at all times, and all State laws hold the human driver responsible for the operation of their vehicles,” the agency added. “Certain advanced driving assistance features can promote safety by helping drivers avoid crashes and mitigate the severity of crashes that occur, but as with all technologies and equipment on motor vehicles, drivers must use them correctly and responsibly.”
The latest investigation from regulators comes on the heels of separate, ongoing probe into Tesla’s Autopilot systems that was launched by the NHTSA in August.
(LOS ANGELES) — The Port of Los Angeles predicts it will break a new cargo record in 2021.
The port said it would process about 10.7 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) this year, a 13% increase from its 2018 record.
“As we approach a new cargo milestone amid this pandemic, I’m so proud of the resilience of this Port, our labor force and all of our partners,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said in a press release. “While there is much more that we need to improve upon, we’re delivering record amounts of cargo and goods are making their way into the hands of consumers and manufacturers.
Exports have actually been declining in 33 of the last 37 months, according to the release.
The increase in activity at the nation’s busiest port comes as U.S. firms are grappling with supply-chain issues and product shortages, The Associated Press previously reported.
(NEW YORK) — What comes around goes around: Your discarded plastic water bottle may soon become part of your next car.
Automakers are racing to make their vehicles more sustainable — the industry’s favorite buzzword — by turning environmentally unfriendly materials into seat cushions, floors, door panels and dashboard trims. First it was reclaimed wood. Then “vegan” leather. Now, plastic waste from the ocean, rice hulls, flaxseeds and agave are transforming the manufacturing process.
“Everyone is awakening to the problems of plastic and waste,” Deborah Mielewski, a technical fellow of sustainability at Ford, told ABC News.
Ford in particular has been championing the use of renewable materials in its vehicles. In 2008 it replaced the petroleum-based polyol foam in its Mustang sports car with seat cushions made from soy, an industry first. More recently Mielewski and her team started examining how to transform some of the 13 million metric tons of ocean plastic, which threaten marine life and pollute shorelines, into parts for future Ford vehicles. The result? Wiring harness clips in the new Ford Bronco Sport that were once nylon fishing nets.
“Two years ago there was a lot of publicity around ocean pollution and we felt an obligation to do something,” Mielewski said.
Ford acquires the recycled plastic from its supplier DSM, which collects the nets from fishermen who are paid to return them. The nets are harvested, sorted, washed and dried before they’re cut into small pellets and injection-molded into harness clips, which weigh about 5 grams and guide wires that power side-curtain airbags in the Bronco Sport.
Mielewski said Ford is currently testing the recycled plastic’s durability for the Bronco Sport’s wire shields, floor side rails and transmission brackets.
“My hope is we can replace many parts with this material,” she said, adding that more than half of Ford customers “care deeply about the environment and want to understand what companies are trying to minimize their footprint.”
Brian Moody, executive editor of Autotrader, said automakers like Ford have been attempting to produce environmentally responsible vehicles for years. He recalled Ford’s Model U concept which premiered on Jan. 5, 2003, at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show. It had a hybrid engine and its door panels were built with a natural fiber-filled composite material.
“This is not just a passing trend. Sustainability is here to stay,” Moody told ABC News. “Environmental regulations are likely to become more strict in the years to come [and it’s] another incentive for automakers to start looking for a solution right now.”
Automakers deliberately added plastics to reduce the weight and cost of vehicles and increase performance and fuel economy, according to Gregory Keoleian, director of the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan.
“About 40 different types of basic plastics and polymers are commonly used to make cars today and state-of-the-art separation technologies are very capital intensive,” he told ABC News. “The majority of plastics are derived from petroleum and natural gas feedstocks and when vehicles are retired these materials are generally disposed of in landfills.”
For German automaker Audi, sustainable materials are a launching point to becoming net CO2 neutral by 2050. Recycled PET bottles are ground up and transformed into a polyester yarn, accounting for 89% of the seat material in Audi’s fourth-generation A3 car. An additional 62 PET bottles were recycled for the carpet in the A3. The carpet and floor mats in the all-electric e-tron GT are made from Econyl, a recycled nylon fiber constructed from fishing nets. The e-tron GT’s 20-inch wheels are also assembled from low-CO2 emission aluminum.
In August, the company showed off its skysphere electric roadster concept, which featured sustainably produced microfiber seat fabric, environmentally certified eucalyptus wood and synthetically produced imitation leather.
“Audi is committed to sustainable materials and we’re implementing these changes in new vehicles,” Spencer Reeder, director of government affairs at Audi, told ABC News. “We have very high standards and fully vet these products.”
Reeder, however, said Audi’s top priority is expanding its lineup of electrified vehicles. By 2025, 30% of Audi vehicles in the U.S. will be full battery electric or plug-in hybrid.
“We’re delivering on things that really truly matter to the environment,” he said. “The focus right now in the industry is on battery materials — nickel, lithium, magnesium — and sustainably sourcing those materials.”
Keoleian pointed out that 17% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are from automobiles.
“Automakers leading in sustainability are companies accelerating their launch of EV models,” he said.
Stephanie Brinley, an analyst at IHS Markit, said automakers are promoting these green efforts aggressively because consumers are more curious and aware of the manufacturing process. These eco-friendly materials “have to look good and be durable and work” to win over consumers, she told ABC News.
“If the material performs just as well, consumers will be happy,” she noted, adding, “You’d be hard-pressed to find a consumer who is against sustainable materials.”
Volvo, the Swedish automaker, said it’s addressing all areas of sustainability — not just carbon emissions — in its vehicles. The company said it will go leather-free by 2030 and use a material it developed called Nordico that consists of textiles made from recycled material such as PET bottles, bio-attributed material from sustainable forests in Sweden and Finland and corks recycled from the wine industry.
The automaker has even been “looking to reduce the use of residual products from livestock production which are commonly used within or in the production of plastics, rubber, lubricants and adhesives, either as part of the material or as a process chemical in the material’s production or treatment,” according to Rekha Meena, Volvo’s senior design manager for color and material.
“We see a growing trend in consumer demands for more sustainable materials, particularly alternatives to leather, in most of our key markets due to concern over animal welfare and the negative environmental impacts of cattle farming, including deforestation,” she told ABC News. “We share these concerns and are choosing to transition away from leather and focus on high-quality sustainable alternatives, like Nordico, to meet this customer need.”
Polestar, Volvo’s electric performance brand, cut plastic from its car interiors by choosing a composite made from flax.
The instrument panel in BMW’s all-electric iX SUV is treated with a natural olive leaf extract to avoid any production residue that is harmful to the environment, according to the company. BMW also chose FSC-certified wood and a large chunk of the iX’s door panels, seats, center console and floor are manufactured from recycled plastics.
For its all-new MX-30 EV, Mazda wanted to use materials that “show an even greater respect for environmental conservation,” a spokesperson told ABC News. The center console and door grips in the MX-30 EV are made of cork and the seats feature leatherette and a fabric that uses 20% recycled threads. The door trims also use recycled PET bottles.
Environmental aesthetics will certainly attract a discerning segment of drivers, according to Brinley.
“Some consumers will feel much better about their vehicles,” she said. “But we’re still pretty far away from having a car made entirely from renewable materials.”
Geoffrey Heal, a Columbia Business School professor, said automakers could make an even greater impact by powering their factories with renewable electricity and building cars that are easily recyclable at the end of their life cycle. Reusing plastic and biodegradable materials is laudable but would have to be done at a significant scale to truly be effective, he argued.
“Automakers are doing this because they feel pressure both by consumers and the government. But there is genuinely some concern [by automakers] to make the world a better place,” Heal told ABC News. “These are small steps but every little step helps.”
Ford’s Mielewski said the company will continue experimenting with innovative and earth-friendly materials — agave, potato peels, coffee chaff — to try to reduce Ford’s impact on the planet.
“We’ve been doing this for quite a long time. I hope everyone will join us,” she said.
