HAWTHORNE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2006--Cereplast, Inc.
(OTCBB:CERP), the producer of proprietary bio-based resins which are used as substitutes for petroleum-based plastics, announced today that the Company was the subject of a Daily Breeze feature article published on January 16, 2006.

Titled "Firm Offers Eco-friendly Alternative for Disposable Products," the article describes how resin made from renewable resources like corn and potato starch is sold by Hawthorne company for products such as utensils, bags, cups, straws and food containers. The article continues:

With six children and two grandchildren, Frederic Scheer has several living, breathing reasons for the earth-conscious legacy he believes his generation should leave behind. As the president and CEO of Cereplast Inc., a manufacturer of biodegradable resin that substitutes for conventional petroleum-based plastics, he is on a mission to make his environmentally friendly material the standard.

The resin, which is made from renewable resources like corn and potato starch, is used primarily in disposable products such as utensils, bags, cups, straws and food containers.

"I have six children and two grandchildren, and I really believe if we don't take care of them, we are going to leave our planet in very bad shape," Scheer said.

"Maybe I am being a visionary, but in the next 25 to 30 years the plastic industry will not be working with feedstock (for conventional plastic). I believe the feedstock will be coming from agriculture rather than fossil fuels." Scheer, who calls himself "a typical entrepreneur," founded Cereplast Inc. with his wife in their garage in 2001.

Now in a 20,000 square-foot facility in Hawthorne, he built the company on 14 years of experience in the biodegradable plastics industry, which included creating the Biodegradable Products Institute, the largest biodegradable association in the world.

Cereplast also has grown to include sales offices in San Francisco and New York. The market for Cereplast emerged from a realization of how large the disposable-products industry -- much of it driven by the takeout food sector -- had become in the United States.

The problem is that the billions of utensils, cups, straws and containers that are a staple of fast-food meals each year are made from conventional plastic, which uses fossil fuel-based resin, Scheer said. "It takes about 77 million years to make one drop of fossil fuel. We are using it for an average of 45 minutes and sending it to a landfill," he said. "Frankly, it doesn't make a lot of sense."

Instead, Cereplast resin comes from agriculture products that will be re-created in less than a year.

The products that use the resin look and feel the same and are comparable in cost, but differ in that the material is compostable and will biodegrade in less than 180 days, Scheer said.

Having first established Cereplast Inc. to make both the resin and provide the finished product, the company has done business with corporations such as Whole Foods, Odwalla and Coca-Cola, which Cereplast supplied with cups for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Cereplast's own product line of biodegradable, bio-based and compostable products sells under the name NAT-UR.

Seeing a growing demand for the resin, which Scheer said is a $400 billion market, Cereplast recently shifted to outsourcing finished products and focusing primarily on manufacturing the material. Scheer expects the full transition to take about 18 months.

The company is at a capacity of 25 million pounds of resin, which he anticipates will reach 50 million pounds by December. In what Scheer calls the company's greatest accomplishment so far, Cereplast went public with CERP as its trading symbol in late 2005. "We really went from a mom-and-pop organization to a corporate structure," he said. "I have to say, we are very excited to be a public entity."

Click here to view the complete Daily Breeze feature article: http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/articles/2205282.html.

About Cereplast, Inc.

Cereplast, Inc. has developed a breakthrough technology to produce proprietary bio-based resins which are used as substitutes for petroleum-based plastics in a variety of applications, including the manufacture of food service items such as utensils, plates, cups and straws. Made from renewable resources such as corn and potato starch, Cereplast resins are bio-based, biodegradable and compostable and have comparable or superior performance characteristics to conventional plastics and are sold at prices that are competitive with plastics. http://www.cereplast.com

Safe Harbor Statement

Matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with: the impact of economic, competitive and other factors affecting the Company and its operations, markets, product and distributor performance, the impact on the national and local economies resulting from terrorist actions, and U.S. actions subsequently; and other factors detailed in reports filed by the Company.

Copyright Business Wire 2006

Cereplast, Inc.

Cereplast, Inc.

Cereplast, Inc. (OTCBB:CERP) designs and manufactures proprietary starch-based, renewable plastics. Cereplast has developed a breakthrough technology to produce proprietary bio-based resins which are used as substitutes for petroleum-based plastics offering price stability and competitive costs compared to traditional resins. Cereplast resins can be used in all major converting process such as injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding and extrusions. Made from renewable resources such as corn and potato starch, Cereplast resins are certified biodegradable and compostable by BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute) and have comparable or superior performance characteristics to conventional plastics and return to nature quickly and safely. Learn more at www.cereplast.com.

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