Eco-business / Social Venture

December 17, 2004

 

NEC to Use Reinforced Bioplastic for PC Parts

Keywords: Eco-business / Social Venture Ecosystems / Biodiversity Environmental Technology Manufacturing industry 

Japan's NEC Corp. announced on September 10, 2004, that the company will use a new type of baiomass-based plastic for their notebook personal computer parts. This baiomass-based plastic is made from polylactic acid with kenaf fiber as a reinforcing material.

Conventional baiomass-based plastics, or bioplastics, made from polylactic acid derived from corn and other plants have some shortcomings, such as the susceptibility to thermal deformation and cracking. The kenaf fiber-reinforced bioplastic, however, has more than 1.7 times the heat resistance and strength than conventional bioplastics. This improvement enables this bioplastic to be used as a material for "dummy cards" inserted into memory card slots.

NEC has been developing bioplastics containing flame retardants that do not contain harmful chemicals such as halogen and phosphorus, aiming to put them to practical use by 2006. Furthermore, the company intends to replace about 10 percent of the plastics currently used for PC cases with plant-derived bioplastics by 2010. The latest development will be the first step toward that goal.



Posted: 2004/12/17 04:04:54 PM
Japanese version

 

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