Metabolix, Inc. and Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) (ADM) have entered into a strategic alliance to commercialize a new generation of high-performance natural plastics.
They plan to establish a state-of-the-art 50,000-ton production facility and a 50/50 joint venture to manufacture and market natural PHA polymers for a wide variety of applications, including coated paper, film, and molded goods. Natural PHA polymers are produced using a fully biological fermentation process that converts agricultural raw materials such as corn sugar into a versatile range of biodegradable and compostable plastics.
ADM will obtain exclusive manufacturing rights and certain co-exclusive marketing rights to Metabolix proprietary PHA technology. Metabolix will receive upfront and milestone payments for transfer and scale up of the technology. The agreement also provides for royalty payments and profit sharing by the joint venture partners.
"This agreement is a major advance toward our goal of making an array of renewable, eco-friendly alternatives to traditional petrochemical plastics widely available to the global marketplace," said Jim Barber, Metabolix's President and CEO. "ADM is a world leader in industrial fermentation, and we are delighted to combine Metabolix's groundbreaking technology with ADM's global strengths in agricultural products processing, fermentation, and logistical networking."
PHAs are a broad and versatile family of natural plastics that range in properties from rigid to highly elastic, making them suitable for films, fibers, adhesives, coatings, molded goods, and a variety of other applications. While stable to even hot water, they will biodegrade in aquatic, soil and composting environments, and even under anaerobic conditions, once their use is over. They are made using a proprietary process developed by Metabolix that converts renewable and sustainable agricultural raw materials through a fully biological fermentation process.
Founded in 1992, Metabolix, Inc. uses sophisticated biotechnology to produce environmentally friendly performance plastics from renewable resources. Metabolix applies advanced tools of metabolic engineering and molecular biology to efficiently produce PHA biobased plastics in microbial systems and directly in non-food plant crops.
Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) one of the world's largest processors of soybeans, corn, wheat and cocoa. ADM is also a leader in the production of soy meal and oil, ethanol, corn sweeteners and flour. In addition, ADM produces value-added food and feed ingredients.
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