"World's first biodegradable flash drive" on show

 

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By David Fearon in Hannover

Posted on 4 Mar 2009 at 13:55

An Asian firm claims to have produced the world's first biodegradable flash drive.

There are plenty of big-name manufacturers touting their green credentials at this year's CeBIT show, but Hong-Kong based company Hoshino is showcasing this environmental breakthrough from one of the smallest stands at the Hannover expo.

The device's casing is made not of plastic but processed corn starch. Company director Tony Yu claims that, once it hits landfill, the casing will biodegrade in under a year.

We were keen to see how the company has made the actual electronics biodegradable, but unfortunately it hasn't.

Yu concedes that the semiconductor innards of the drive are just like any other flash device: "It's not perfect but at least it's better than plastic". He also claims the casing needs less energy to produce than a plastic one, "say about 20% less".

Yu mentioned he's currently in talks with Tesco about distributing the drive in the UK, so you might see one near the Cornflakes before too long.