Thursday, 30 November 2006

Sony Unveils FeliCa Card Using Vegetable-based Plastic

Sony claims to have succeeded in creating a contactless IC card made from vegetable-based plastic (vegetable-based plastics are derived from biomass). Such cards are based on Sony’s contactless IC card technology 'FeliCa' and can run applications...

Sony claims to have succeeded in creating a contactless IC card made from vegetable-based plastic (vegetable-based plastics are derived from biomass). Such cards are based on Sony’s contactless IC card technology 'FeliCa' and can run applications like the Edy pre-paid e-money service, or function as ID access cards for companies and organisations, the company said in a statement.

As a first step, Sony will issue 2000 such cards with the Edy application for distribution within the Sony Group. In addition, the Sony Health Insurance Union will issue 150,000 health insurance cards based on vegetable-based plastic (which are not IC cards), the company claimed.

According to Sony, it has been promoting the use of vegetable plastic and its introduction into products and packaging. Sony has moved on to the application of vegetable-based plastic to contactless IC cards.

Sony developed this environmental friendly technology through the selection of polylactic acid as the main ingredient for the vegetable-based plastic and the careful selection of subsidiary ingredients, the company added.

The compound ratio and methods were then investigated and the production process for the cards adjusted accordingly. We succeeded in producing a contactless card which is more than 51 per cent composed of vegetable-based materials in terms of depth and volume, the company said.