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Bioplastics for Electronic Equipment

Tackling the development of biomass-based plastics -(Bioplastics) for electronic equipment-

Flame-retardant polylactic acid

Plastics used for the external casing of medium-sized and larger electronic equipment such as personal computers require a high degree of flame retardancy. Since polylactic acid is quite easily flammable, its flame retardancy needs to be improved before it can be used for such applications. As described above, conventional flame retardants such as halogen and phosphorus compounds are environmentally unsafe, so we attempted to produce a flame retardant polylactic acid without using these substances.

In November 2009, we developed the first practical application of Nucycle. Besides representing an improvement in materials technology, Nucycle is flame retardant. It is one of the most environmentally friendly bioplastics in the world because it is composed of more than 75 percent plant-based material and emits only half the carbon dioxide during its life cycle, compared to existing petroleum-based plastics (such as PC/ABS).--> January 26, 2004 press release in Japanese

We have adopted Nucycle as part of our goal to produce environmentally responsible products, and we are using it in business computers that we sell commercially. --> January 12, 2010 press release in Japanese

Flame retardant polylactic acid (Polylactic acid-aluminum hydroxide composite)Fig.5 Flame retardant polylactic acid (Polylactic acid-aluminum hydroxide composite)