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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
12.03.2007 - 04:01pm ET
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Metabolix Announces National Release of Gift Card by Target using Mirel Biobased Plastics
(CSRwire) CAMBRIDGE, MA - December 3, 2007 – Metabolix, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX), a
bioscience company focused on developing clean, sustainable solutions for
plastics, fuels, and chemicals, announced today that Target (NYSE: TGT)
has introduced in all 1,600 stores gift cards made using Mirel(TM)
biobased plastic in time for the holiday shopping season. In July, Target
test marketed gift cards made using Mirel in 129 of its stores.
Mirel is a family of biobased, sustainable and biodegradable plastics that
provides an excellent alternative to traditional, petroleum-based plastics.
Mirel also biodegrades in a wide range of environments including soil, home
compost, wetlands, rivers and oceans unlike traditional persistent
plastics.
Current Mirel production is from a pre-commercial plant while the
commercial plant is under construction. Because Mirel is made from corn
and the commercial plant will utilize renewable energy in its production,
the environmental benefits will be significant. Unlike conventional
plastics, Mirel will have a "negative CO2 footprint." In a
recently-announced cradle to factory gate life cycle assessment (LCA) for
Mirel bioplastic resin, Dr. Bruce Dale, professor of Chemical Engineering
at Michigan State University, determined that its production reduces the
use of nonrenewable energy by more than 95% and provides a 200% reduction
in greenhouse gases (GHG) compared to production of conventional
petroleum-based plastics.
About Metabolix
Founded in 1992, Metabolix, Inc. is an innovation driven bioscience
company focused on providing sustainable solutions for the world's needs
for plastics, fuels and chemicals. The Company is taking a systems
approach, from gene to end product, integrating sophisticated
biotechnology with advanced industrial practice. Metabolix is now
developing and commercializing Mirel™ bioplastics, a sustainable and
biodegradable alternative to petroleum based plastics. Mirel is suitable
for injection molding, extrusion coating, cast film and sheet, blown film
and thermoforming. Metabolix is also developing a proprietary platform
technology for co-producing plastics, biofuels and chemical products in
biomass energy crops such as switchgrass.
Metabolix and Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) are commercializing
Mirel through a joint venture called Telles. The first commercial scale
Mirel production plant is being constructed adjacent to ADM's wet corn
mill in Clinton, Iowa. The plant is expected to begin operations in late
2008 and is designed to produce up to 110 million pounds of Mirel
annually. Mirel will reduce reliance on petroleum and decrease
environmental impacts relative to conventional petroleum based
plastics.
For more information, please visit www.metabolix.com. (MBLX-G)
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements in this release do not
constitute guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned that
statements in this press release which are not strictly historical
statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding completion
of construction and commencement of operation of the commercial
manufacturing facility, the actual manufacturing capacity of that
facility, and the sales potential of Mirel, constitute forward-looking
statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those anticipated, including, without limitation, risks
associated with: the Company's dependence on ADM for construction of the
commercial manufacturing facility, ADM's ability to complete construction
of that facility on time and on budget, market acceptance of Metabolix
products, and other risks detailed in Metabolix's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2006. Metabolix assumes no obligation to update any
forward-looking information contained in this press release or with
respect to the announcements described herein.
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