Finally, an affordable solution to the landfill problem: Fujitsu and Sony have figured out how to use biodegradable plastics in their high-tech gear.
This fall Sony will reintroduce that classic from the 1980s, the Walkman tape player, with 90 percent of its casing made from vegetable-based plastic. Fujitsu plans to use the same plastic in the shell of its Biblo laptop computers starting in 2004.
The magic ingredient in this plastic is polylactic acid, a corn-based polymer. Fujitsu experimented with the substance in industrial tape in 1996 but could not produce it cheaply. Two years ago, Cargill Dow, a joint venture of the Dow Chemical Co and the commodities processor Cargill Inc, came up with a cheaper version that is as strong as the plastic in most consumer electronics. The plastic disintegrates in just a few months, with the speed depending on the soil composition, temperature and the extent to which the plastics are exposed to air.
Fujitsu has begun using the corn-based plastic in bits of its laptop computers but says more flammability tests will be needed before it can become the chief material. Less petroleum is needed to produce the degradable plastic, and no dioxin is emitted when it is burned or buried. Once it is in full use, it is expected to make up the entire housing, making sorting and disassembling the machine easier. That is an important cost savings for Fujitsu, which under Japanese law is required to collect and recycle the computers it makes.
The computer's imprimatur may also win it more contracts from Japan's government, which has a mandate to buy environmentally friendly products.
AI REVOLUTION: The event is to take place from Wednesday to Friday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s halls 1 and 2 and would feature more than 1,100 exhibitors Semicon Taiwan, an annual international semiconductor exhibition, would bring leaders from the world’s top technology firms to Taipei this year, the event organizer said. The CEO Summit is to feature nine global leaders from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), Applied Materials Inc, Google, Samsung Electronics Co, SK Hynix Inc, Microsoft Corp, Interuniversity Microelectronic Centre and Marvell Technology Group Ltd, SEMI said in a news release last week. The top executives would delve into how semiconductors are positioned as the driving force behind global technological innovation amid the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, the organizer said. Among them,
When she was in fifth grade, Scarlett Goddard Strahan started to worry about getting wrinkles. By the time she turned 10, she and her friends were spending hours on ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok and Google’s YouTube watching influencers tout products for achieving today’s beauty aesthetic: a dewy, “glowy,” flawless complexion. Goddard Strahan developed an elaborate skin care routine with facial cleansers, mists, hydrating masks and moisturizers. One night, her skin began to burn intensely and erupted in blisters. Heavy use of adult-strength products had wreaked havoc on her skin. Months later, patches of tiny bumps remain on her face, and her cheeks turn
Former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) yesterday warned against the tendency to label stakeholders as either “pro-China” or “pro-US,” calling such rigid thinking a “trap” that could impede policy discussions. Liu, an adviser to the Cabinet’s Economic Development Committee, made the comments in his keynote speech at the committee’s first advisers’ meeting. Speaking in front of Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) and other officials, Liu urged the public to be wary of falling into the “trap” of categorizing people involved in discussions into either the “pro-China” or “pro-US” camp. Liu,
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