Sustainable Braking: PFC’s Commitment to Green Innovation

When conversations about sustainability in the automotive industry arise, the spotlight typically falls on electric vehicles and tailpipe emissions. However, the lesser-known contributor is the brake system.

At PFC Brakes, sustainability goes far beyond compliance – it’s built into the foundation of our products, processes, and values. When sitting down with Nathan Mitchell, PFC Brakes Product Development Manager/Friction Formulator, we dove into the reasons why PFC is copper-compliant.

In this Q&A, PFC will discuss its early development of copper-free products, its environmental management (EM) System, strict raw material testing, continuous monitoring of regulations and material safety, and the upcoming green technologies being introduced in 2026.

Questions and Answers:

Q: What’s something people might not realize about how brake manufacturers like PFC Brakes contribute to environmental progress?

A: Brake particle emissions are the target of most brake manufacturers for green materials due to the EURO 7 regulations. The focus has not primarily been on all “Green” aspects of what goes into a friction composite. PFC is targeting all aspects of the “Green” brake pad: particle emissions, the chemical makeup of the particle emissions, and green materials the pad is produced from.

We have collaborated with our supply chain to maximize the use of recycled and landfill-diverged materials in our pads. For most of our friction composite formulations, PFC is >20% recycled or landfill-diverged materials. We are continuously working on increasing this percentage to reduce the environmental impact of our brakes and have a target of 50% recycled or landfill-diverted materials by 2035.

Q: Can you explain what copper-free means for PFC, its products, and what prompted PFC to begin developing copper-free brake products well before legislation required it?

A: PFC began to develop copper-free brake products since its inception in 1984. Copper is a very good thermal conductor, but the backbone of our formulations, being “Carbon Metallic,” is highly conductive.

While our competitors use thermally insulating materials such as potassium titanate, we never needed to add copper to reach the desired performance of our pads.

We look closely for any investigations into health concerns of materials such as copper, and we respond quickly with our formulations. PFC does not wait for regulations to force our formulations in a certain direction. We work closely with our supply chain to develop safe materials to be used in our pads.

Q: How would you describe PFC’s commitment to environmental sustainability, and how does it align with the company’s core values?

A: Environmental sustainability is a core element of everything we do at PFC. From the materials we use to our production processes to make our brake systems. We source our raw materials from as many American suppliers as possible to support local producers and to minimize the carbon footprint of our supply chain.

Q: Could you walk us through the Environmental Management (EM) System in place at PFC, and how employees are involved in maintaining this system?

A: Our EM system is very thorough at PFC. All employees, from hourly associates on the floor to top management, are trained on our EM system and the environmental goals for PFC. It is a core value that impacts all actions and decisions made at PFC.

All development projects we are working on go through an environmental review process to ensure everything that we create, and release is aligned with PFC’s environmental commitment.

Q: What advantages does PFC gain from designing and manufacturing its products in the USA?

A: PFC pads are produced under a very strict quality control system, which produces the highest quality pad possible. We monitor all raw materials that come into PFC with extensive testing prior to being released to the production floor. If any one of these checks is not correct, it will not be used in our pads.

We also use a majority of American-made raw materials in our product, which allows very close relationships with our suppliers. We can also monitor what our suppliers are doing to make these raw materials, so from an environmental standpoint, there are no questions about the environmental impact each of our raw materials has. Unlike overseas production, there are fewer environmental controls in place to ensure the quality of our raw materials.

Just as important, our US-based engineering plays a key role in driving innovation. We always think outside of the box to improve the environmental impact, manufacturability, and performance of our braking systems. It is very important for our products to be manufactured in the US, so that we can keep tight control over the materials that go into our products and the manufacturing of our products.

Q: How is PFC Brakes preparing to stay ahead of the future industry standards?

A: We have been monitoring any new reports of any potentially harmful substances and have projects to suppress those materials entirely. Our goal at PFC is to create the greenest brake products on the market, while not compromising the performance of our products. 

Q: Are there any NEW green technologies or product lines on the horizon for PFC?

A: Yes, we do have new green technologies being developed for all our pads.  These technologies will continue to decrease the environmental impacts of all our pads, while maintaining the same PFC performance our customers expect. Our green technology that is closest to being released will be implemented in 2026, which will increase the recycled content of all PFC pads.

At PFC Brakes, we believe environmental innovation should never come at the expense of quality or performance. We’ve stayed ahead of evolving regulations by removing copper and other potentially harmful substances from our brake formulations long before it was required. Backed by our Environmental Management (EM) System, we’re continuously improving every level of our operations to deliver safer, cleaner, and more sustainable braking solutions.