Fuji Xerox Develops Biomass Plastic with a Plant-Derived Content of More Than 50 Weight Percent Reducing CO2 Emissions by Approximately 41 Percent Acquired Biomasspla 50 Logo

TOKYO, September 20, 2011 – Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. has developed biomass plastic^*1 containing more than 50 weight percent of plant-derived materials (corn for cattle feed), and acquired BiomassPla 50 logo^*2 for it from the Japan BioPlastics Association. Compared to the biomass plastic that the company introduced in 2007, the new plastic has lower CO2 emissions by approximately 41 percent as a material based on the assessment by Fuji Xerox.

In 2007, Fuji Xerox began introducing components made from the biomass plastic that contains plant-derived materials of more than 30 weight percent, which the company will replace with the newly-developed biomass plastic for the future products.

The current material l is an alloy resin that consists of plant-derived polylactic acid (PLA) and petroleum-based materials, but the new biomass plastic only uses PLA as its base plastic constituent.

In general, higher plant-derived content such as PLA compromises flame-retardant and flexibility performance, and makes the plastic susceptible to moisture-induced degradation. However, the use of a combination of several additives in the new material has delivered better flame-retardant performance than the current material^*3 while inhibiting degradation. Keeping the intensity equivalent to the current material, Fuji Xerox will apply the new biomass plastic to mechanical components in movable sections.

Fuji Xerox has evolved the new biomass plastic from the material it developed in 2007 with technical assistance from FUJIFILM Corporation aiming not to use petroleum-based materials. Since the earliest stage of the development, both companies have shared knowledge on plant-derived materials in conducting material design, assessing flame-retardant performance and physical characteristics, as well as exploring molding techniques. UNITIKA LTD. has also extended cooperation in developing the system for mass production. Through continued collaboration with these companies, Fuji Xerox will keep developing environment-friendly materials.

^*1: Biomass plastic is a type of plastic made with plant materials, corn for cattle feed. It is environment-friendly plastic, developed to mitigate CO2 emissions by minimizing the ratio of petroleum-based plastic refined from oil, which is a fast-depleting resource.

^*2: An identification system to certify plastic products that conform to the standards prescribed by the Japan BioPlastics Association. BiomassPla 50 logo is provided to plastic products with a plant-derived content of more than 50 weight percent.

^*3: U.S. Underwriters Laboratories Inc. defines plastic materials' flame-retardant ratings in the UL94 category. Fuji Xerox’s current material is rated as V-2, while the newly-developed material is given a higher rating of V-1 in flame-retardant performance.