PCWorld.com reports that Sanyo has developed a
technology to make CD and DVD recordable discs out of corn. Current discs are
made of plastic and other chemicals and are not very enviroment friendly when
disposed and cause toxic gasses to be released when burned. The discs developed
by Sanyo will degrade after a period of about 50 to 100 years and break
down into water and carbon dioxide.
 The
production process begins when Cargill Dow in Nebraska converts corn into
a polylactic acid. This is done by milling the corn to separate out the
starch and then processing the starch to get unrefined dextrose. Using a
fermentation process similar to that of beer production, the dextrose is
converted into lactic acid, according to the company's Web site. The acid
is converted into a polymer to form the base of the optical disc by Sanyo
in a process the company developed with Japan's Mitsui Chemicals, for
which the companies have applied for patents, Watson said.
Sanyo estimates that around 85 corn kernels, each
weighing an average of 0.5 grams, are needed to produce enough polymer for
a single 4.7-inch optical disc, so an average ear of corn can produce
around ten discs. The International Recording Media Association estimates
world demand for CDs at around 9 billion annually, and the U.S. Department
of Agriculture estimates world corn production at about 600 million tons,
so producing enough polymer to satisfy the demand for discs would require
less than 0.1 percent of the world's corn
production. |
When the discs are released, they will be around 3 times more expensive then
current CD or DVD recordables, but Sanyo hopes that when the technology becomes
more popular the price will drop to about 1.2 times the current prices. Read the
entire story here.
Source: PCWorld.com
