Metabolix and ADM to Produce Mirel, the World's First Biobased and Fully Biodegradable Plastic

Metabolix is currently working with more than 40 prospective customers on more than 60 applications, including consumer products, packaging, single use disposables, and products used in agriculture and erosion control.

28/04/07 Cambridge, Massachusetts. Metabolix Inc., a leader in the use of bioscience to provide sustainable, clean solutions for plastics, fuels and chemicals, and ADM, the global leader in BioEnergy and a premier agricultural processor, announced that they will jointly produce Mirel Natural Plastics. Mirel is a family of high performance natural plastics that are biobased, sustainable and completely biodegradable.

Metabolix and ADM are commercializing Mirel through their joint venture, Telles, named for the Roman goddess of the Earth. Telles is now building its first commercial scale plant in Clinton, Iowa. This plant is expected to start up in 2008 and will produce Mirel at an annual rate of 110 million pounds.

Jim Barber, President and CEO of Metabolix, said, "Today marks an important step in providing consumers with products made of plastics that don't harm the environment. We are now commercializing biobased, renewable alternatives to petroleum-based plastics that will reduce our reliance on oil and the impact petroleum use has on climate change."

John Rice, ADM Executive Vice President, said, "As the global leader in BioEnergy, ADM is committed to providing biobased solutions to help meet the demand for products traditionally made from petroleum. Mirel natural plastics are an important step forward as they provide natural, sustainable products for the plastics market."

Mirel is a versatile brand of natural plastics produced from renewable resources like corn sugar that provides an alternative to traditional, oil-based plastics. But unlike oil-based plastics, Mirel will biodegrade harmlessly back to nature in a wide range of environments such as soil, compost, rivers, and oceans.

More than 350 billion pounds of plastic is produced each year and nearly 10 percent of total U.S. oil consumption - about two million barrels a day - is used to make plastic each year. Its manufacture contributes to the world's growing dependence on oil and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, plastics significantly impact the global ecosystem since they do not biodegrade in soil, landfills, rivers or oceans.

Telles expects that its customers will market their natural plastic products co-branded with the Mirel name and logo. "We are optimistic that Mirel's name and distinguishable heart-shaped leaf will become the trusted mark consumers look for in environmentally-responsible plastics," said Barber.

Mirel can be used as an alternative to petroleum-based plastic in a wide variety of conversion processes, including injection molding, paper coating, cast film and sheet, blown film, and thermoforming. Metabolix is currently working with more than 40 prospective customers on more than 60 applications, including consumer products, packaging, single use disposables, and products used in agriculture and erosion control.