A history of Mirel bioplastics

Founded in 1992, Metabolix, Incorporated is an innovation-driven bioscience company 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. 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 will have commercial product available for customers in the second quarter of calendar 2009 and is designed to produce 110 million pounds of Mirel annually.