Sony Creates FeliCa Card Of Vegetable-Based Plastic

In a world-first development, Sony has 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 organizations.

As a first step, Sony will issue 2000 such cards with the Edy application for distribution within the Sony Group. The cards will also be displayed in the Sony booth at the Eco Products 2006 exhibition taking place at the Tokyo Big Sight from December 14-16.

In addition, the Sony Health Insurance Union will issue 150,000 health insurance cards based on vegetable-based plastic (please note these are not IC cards).

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

The compound ratio and methods were then investigated and the production process for the cards adjusted accordingly. Sony ensured that the present attributes of contactless IC cards in terms of communications, reliability and robustness were maintained. The company succeeded in producing a contactless card which is more than 51% composed of vegetable-based materials in terms of depth and volume.

Source: Sony

Write a comment below. No registration needed!