Fuji Xerox Develops Inedible Woody Biomass Plastic Reducing the use of Petroleum Resources by 40 Percent

TOKYO, September 14, 2011 –Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. has developed inedible woody biomass plastic^*1 material and components, the first in the multifunction device/printer industry, and obtained the BiomassPla logo^*2 from the Japan Biomass plastics Association.

The material based on cellulose, the woody resource, has a plant-derived content of approximately 40 weight percent, while reducing the use of petroleum resources by 40 percent. Throughout the world, it is a progressive achievement to have developed inedible woody biomass plastic material and components with flame-retardant rating V-2, UL Standard^*3. .

With Fuji Xerox’s proprietary alloy technology that combines cellulose and petroleum materials at the optimum condition, this material has flexibility and fluidity required for injection molding, as well as strength to withstand impacts. In particular, the new material’s weld strength—an important property for injection molding materials required at a contact point of plastic resin when injected into a mold from two sides—is greater than that of petroleum-based ABS resin.

Active development and product application efforts are underway for biomass plastic because of its environmental contribution by mitigating CO2 emissions and reducing the use of petroleum resources. Especially, polylactic acid (PLA), made from corn for cattle feed, has been adopted in automobiles, home appliances and office equipment for its relatively good performance balance. On the other hand, it is needed to develop other types of biomass plastic and their commercialization, because it is difficult to rely solely on PLA to replace a large amount of various petroleum-based materials given the current level of technologies.

While developing PLA-based resin materials^*4, Fuji Xerox has engaged in research and development of the inedible woody biomass plastic; Wood materials do not aggravate the food supply issue and need less transportation, which reduces CO2 emissions, because of their availability throughout the world.

Fuji Xerox developed the inedible woody biomass plastic under two partnerships：Together with FUJIFILM Corporation, it conducted fundamental research to add basic functions to cellulose such as injection molding, while developing technologies for coloring the plastic to be used for components, as well as for mass production with Daicel Polymer Ltd. to achieve the material’s practical use.

Fuji Xerox will continue to further enhance the environmental performance including CO2 reduction level and ratio of plant, as well as the property of the material aiming at broadening the scope of application by achieving cost reduction.

^*1: Bio-based resins that do not compete with the food supply issue are collectively called inedible bio-based resin.

^*2: Products that meet the standard set by the Japan Biomass plastics Association are certified as BiomassPla and allowed to carry the certification logo.

^*3: The flame-retardant standard defined by Underwriters Laboratories (a U.S. product safety testing organization). The classes from the least flame-retardant to the most flame-retardant; HB, V-2, V-1 and V-0.

^*4: Fuji Xerox also developed biomass plastic with the PLA content of 30 weight percent, which has been introduced in its products since 2007.

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