The company then teamed with Archer Daniels Midland Co. in April 2007 to commercialize Mirel bioplastic through a joint venture called Telles, which is the name for the Roman goddess of the Earth. The plastics can be used in a variety of applications including compostable bags, business equipment, packaging, consumer products such as cosmetics and gift cards, and in agriculture horticulture, marine and water applications. The first commercial-scale plant for the annual production of 110 million pounds of Mirel plastics is now being built adjacent to ADM’s wet corn mill in Clinton, Iowa.

In addition, the company recently announced the results of greenhouse trials of switchgrass plants engineered to produce significant amounts of PHA bioplastics in leaf tissues. “Metabolix has been developing technology to produce PHA polymer in switchgrass for over seven years,” says Oliver Peoples, the company’s chief scientific officer.

Switchgrass is an attractive feedstock option for the production of cellulosic ethanol because it is a tall-growing, nonfood crop, and the prospect of additional revenue from biodegradable plastics should make it even more appealing. “A key corporate goal has been to develop value-added industrial crops such as oilseeds, sugarcane and switchgrass,” explains Richard Eno, president and chief executive officer of the company. “This proof of concept in switchgrass is an important milestone as we develop commercialization strategies for our plant science activities.” A detailed description of the research is forthcoming in Plant Biotechnology Journal.

There are hurdles to overcome, however, including: how to harvest the plastic from the plant; the cost of recovering plastic from plant leaves; and how to best dispose of these plastics in composting or other bioconversion facilities. But the incentive for breaking down these barriers is sweetened by the market outlook for bioplastics; worldwide consumption of biodegradable polymers increased from 31 million pounds in 1996 to an estimated 150 million pounds in 2001, and since 2004, the consumption of bioplastics has increased three- to four-fold. In Europe alone, the potential for bioplastics is estimated to be at least 2 million tons per year and global production capacity is expected to exceed 750,000 tons each year by 2010.

The numbers suggest that the future is bright for bioplastic suppliers such as Metabolix in the United States, Biomer in Germany and Natureplast in France. Likewise, biomass-to-ethanol producers may find something to cheer about in Metabolix’s research, which opens the possibility for another revenue stream from cellulosic ethanol production. “This result validates the prospect for economic production of PHA polymer in switchgrass, and demonstrates for the first time an important tool for enhancing switchgrass for value-added performance as a bioenergy crop,” Peoples says.

Jessica Ebert is a freelance writer for Biomass Magazine. Reach her at jebertserp@yahoo.com.

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