NEC Looks To Build Better Bioplastic With Plant Waste [Plant Stems and Cashew Shells Go Into NEC's Bioplastic]

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I think most of us enjoy cashews. Those rich, oily little nuts taste great, even if they’re not quite as good for you as, say, almonds. But to hear that they may play a part in a new kind of bioplastic out at NEC was great news indeed.

See, in case you didn’t know, cashews are tough to grow. They come contained in this really tough, fibrous shell that’s a pain to work with. But what NEC figures is that it’s a great starting point, along with some plant stems and other things, for their new kind of bioplastic. In fact, the plastic is about 70% plant waste, which is a huge step up from other kinds of bioplastic which required us to use food in their construction, like corn.

And it’s impressive stuff, too: it’s twice as strong as the corn-based stuff, twice as beat resistant, three times as water resistant and can be molded in half the time. But there’s a downside to this–no one knows what its recycling capability is like. This doesn’t worry me so much because we’re already recycling to get it, so what crime if we have to, say, set all the broken ones on fire or in landfills?

The best part is, NEC looks to start using this bioplastic in products by 2013, so you may have a cashew-based monitor on your desktop pretty soon.