Samsung develops cellphones made of corn

Samsung Electronics has unveiled two new cellphone handsets — the W510 and the F268 — that are made of corn-based biopolymers at the World IT Show in Seoul.

The company, which has been working to develop alternatives to petroleum-based plastics, also noted that the W510 does not contain any heavy metals.

According to PC World, the company also ensured that the F268 model’s accessories did not contain any polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or brominated flame retardants (BFRs). The company plans to stop using PVC and BFRs in all of its handset offerings by 2010.

According to media reports, the W510 will be launched in Korea, and the F268 in China, later this month.

Samsung isn’t the only electronics manufacturers looking at the viability of bio-based and biodegradable plastic materials. Over the last few years, Fujitsu has looked at introducing bioplastics in its laptops. The company used a polylactic acid (PLA)-based material in the housing of its FMV-BIBLIO notebook series.

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