Tom
User
Junior Panelist
| Posts: 9 |  |
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Metabolix (bio-plastics) - 2007/01/09 05:40
These guys want to make plastic from bugs.
Founded in 1992, Metabolix, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX) is developing and commercializing environmentally sustainable and totally biodegradable plastic called Natural Plastic (as an alternative to fossil fuel based plastics). Metabolix describes Natural Plastic as being a clean alternative to petroleum-based plastics.
Metabolix and Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) have a joint venture to create bio-based plastics. They are constructing a facility in the Midwest to produce 110 million pounds of biodegradable plastic annually. Metabolix Natural Plastics can be used as an alternative to petrochemical plastics in a wide variety of applications. It is also developing a proprietary platform technology for co-producing, in non-food plant crops such as switchgrass, Natural Plastic and biomass for biofuels such as ethanol and for chemical products.
Corn-based ethanol is good because it gets us off of petroleum based products. However, corn is a food, and the world is at presently experiencing low grain stockpiles. Metabolix is a "good company" because it can help migrate ethanol from food-based to non-food-based feedstocks like switchgrass (shown below).
Cheers,
Tom |
