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To: Ron who wrote (4666)	7/11/2008 1:41:02 AM
From: ~digs	Respond to of 7944

Metabolix Announces that Mirel Bioplastics is Chosen by Labcon for New Laboratory Liquid Handling System biz.yahoo.com Monday June 30, 4:05 pm ET CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Metabolix, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX - News) today announced that Telles™, its joint venture with Archer Daniels Midland Company that produces Mirel™ bioplastics, has entered into an agreement to supply Mirel bioplastic resin to Labcon North America, a leading manufacturer of laboratory supplies, for the production of its new Pagoda pipet reloading system. “Labcon’s product launch demonstrates business equipment as one of our strategic short term applications for which Mirel will be utilized,” said Bob Findlen, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Telles. “This very complicated part demonstrates the versatility and ease with which Mirel can be used for injection molding applications. Until today, bioplastics in general have had limited capability in injection molding applications.” Labcon North America is a leading provider of disposable plastic laboratory products, supplying more than 800 products globally, and manufacturing over a billion units a year. The new Labcon Pagoda reloading system utilizes Mirel for the injection molded tray that holds the pipets in place. Mirel is biobased and biodegradable, which means the product tray can now be composted at the end of its useful life. Jim Happ, President of Labcon, said: “There has been growing concern within our industry that the disposal of traditional plastics is too wasteful. We can now offer customers the opportunity to lower their carbon footprint with our Pagoda line of products and many have indicated that they will switch to our new products made from renewable resources. We envision this as the first of many products in our Pagoda line that will utilize Mirel.” “Labcon previously supplied conventional plastic trays that were thrown away or reclaimed through Labcon’s recycle program. Now we are planning to launch a composting program to complement this initiative,” said Happ. “Labcon selected Mirel for its improved physical properties, heat and chemical resistance, durability, and dimensional stability,” said Tom Moulton, director of marketing of Labcon. “These physical properties are essential features for Labcon applications.” 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, chemicals and energy. 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, chemicals and energy, from crops such as switchgrass, oilseeds and sugarcane. 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 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.