National Survey Reveals More than 70% of Americans Don't Know Plastic is Made from Oil

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to a nationwide online survey released today, 72 percent of the American public does not know that conventional plastic is made from petroleum products, primarily oil. The survey was conducted by national online market research firm InsightExpress for Telles^TM, a joint venture of Metabolix, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX), a company using bioscience to provide clean solutions for plastics, fuels and chemicals, and Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM), one of the world’s largest agricultural processors and the world leader in BioEnergy.

“The more Americans understand the environmental impact of using conventional plastics, the more they will look for and demand new solutions for meeting their needs for these essential materials.”

Plastics are everywhere and most Americans have come to rely on plastics in all aspects of their lives. However, very few people realize that plastics are made from oil, further contributing to the problems of energy dependence, greenhouse gas emissions and depleting resources. In fact, nearly 10 percent of U.S. oil consumption – approximately 2 million barrels a day – is used to make plastic.

The survey also revealed a misunderstanding about another important characteristic of traditional plastic – it never goes away. Despite the fact that petroleum-based plastic will never biodegrade, 40 percent of respondents believe that it will biodegrade underground, in home compost, in landfills, or in the ocean. Plastics will not biodegrade in any of these environments. In fact, the only way to rid the planet of existing plastic is by incineration in those cases where it can be recovered.

"Everyone knows about our country's unhealthy reliance on oil and the impact that petroleum use has on climate change,” said Jim Barber, President and CEO, Metabolix, which has developed a brand of fully biodegradable Natural Plastics. “Similarly, people see a lot of plastic waste in the form of litter. But the fact that so many people are unaware that plastic is made from oil and that it will persist in the environment for thousands of years, shows the need for education about the impact of plastic on the environment and the various alternatives made from renewable resources."

Americans also have a much more optimistic view of the country’s recycling efforts than is supported by the facts. On average, those surveyed believe nearly 40 percent (38.2%) of plastic is recycled, when in fact that figure is less than six percent (5.7%) nationally, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

There is hope, however. When informed that plastic is made from oil and that it never biodegrades, half of Americans indicated they would be willing to pay a premium for natural, biodegradable plastic.

Mr. Barber concluded, “The more Americans understand the environmental impact of using conventional plastics, the more they will look for and demand new solutions for meeting their needs for these essential materials.”

Snapshot of Survey Results:

72% of respondents do not know that plastic is made out of oil/petroleum
On average, respondents estimated 38% of plastic is recycled (the reality is less than 6%, according to the EPA)
Nearly 40% (38.1%) of respondents said plastic will biodegrade underground, in home compost, in landfills, or in the ocean (plastic will not biodegrade in any of these environments).
After learning that plastic is made from oil and never biodegrades, half (50.1%) of respondents stated they would be likely or very likely to pay 5-10% more for a natural, biodegradable plastic. Only 24% were unlikely/very unlikely to pay this much more.
62% of respondents rate their own level of environmental knowledge as fair or poor, with only 5.6% rating it as excellent.

About the Survey

The survey was conducted online between the dates of April 5 and April 10, by InsightExpress, a leading national online market research firm. Survey participants were recruited online via InsightExpress’ patented sampling methodology. A representative sample of 501 respondents completed the survey, reflecting a +/-4.89% margin of error at a 95% confidence level.

About Telles’s Natural Plastics

Telles Natural Plastics are produced from renewable resources such as corn sugar using a fully biological fermentation process, producing a versatile range of biobased natural plastics with excellent durability in use but that also biodegrade benignly in a wide range of environments. Telles is a joint venture or Metabolix and Archer Daniels Midland, which is now building the first commercial scale plant to produce Natural Plastics in Clinton, Iowa. This plant will be starting up in 2008, with a nameplate capacity of 110 million pounds of Natural Plastics per year, which can be used as an alternative to petroleum-based plastics in a wide variety of conversion processes including injection molding, paper coating, sheet, cast film, blown film and thermoforming.

About Telles™

To commercialize Natural Plastics, Metabolix and ADM formed a joint venture, which operates under the name Telles. Telles takes its name from the Roman goddess of the Earth. Telles is responsible for the manufacturing, marketing and sales of Natural Plastics.

About Metabolix

Founded in 1992, Metabolix, Inc. is an innovation driven bioscience company providing clean, sustainable solutions for the world’s needs for plastics, fuels, and chemicals. The Company is taking a systems approach, from gene to end product, to integrate sophisticated biotechnology with advanced industrial practice, and is now developing and commercializing environmentally sustainable and totally biodegradable Natural Plastics as a clean alternative to petroleum-based plastics. In addition to its microbial fermentation platform for production of Natural Plastics, Metabolix is also developing a proprietary platform technology for co-producing, in non-food plant crops such as switchgrass, Natural Plastics and biomass for biofuels such as ethanol and for chemical products. For more information, please visit www.metabolix.com. (MBLX-G).

About Archer Daniels Midland Company

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) is the world leader in BioEnergy and has a premier position in the agricultural processing value chain. ADM is one of the world's largest processors of soybeans, corn, wheat and cocoa. ADM is a leading manufacturer of biodiesel, ethanol, soybean oil and meal, corn sweeteners, flour and other value-added food and feed ingredients. Headquartered in Decatur, Illinois, ADM has over 26,000 employees, more than 240 processing plants and net sales for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006 of $37 billion. Additional information can be found on ADM's Web site at http://www.admworld.com/.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release which are not strictly historical statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding commencement and completion of construction on the commercial manufacturing facility, actual manufacturing capacity of the commercial manufacturing facility, manufacturing plans and performance including the timing of commencement of commercial production of Natural Plastic, commercial viability of Natural Plastic, current or future financial performance and position, management's strategy, plans and objectives for future operations, product development, present and future research and development, regulatory approval and intellectual property, constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, without limitation, risks associated with: our dependence on our collaborative partner for construction of the commercial manufacturing facility, ADM’s ability to complete construction of the commercial manufacturing facility on time and on budget, the ability of Metabolix and ADM to successfully manufacture Natural Plastic at commercial scale and in a timely and economic manner, the success of collaborative arrangement with ADM, the market acceptance of our products, our ability to compete with petrochemical-based plastics, fuels and chemicals, our ability to generate future revenues, our expectation of incurring continued losses, the success of our research and development programs, our ability to develop and successfully commercialize Natural Plastic, our ability to obtain required regulatory approvals, our ability to obtain, maintain and protect intellectual property rights for our products, our limited sales and manufacturing capabilities, our ability to hire and retain skilled personnel, and other risks detailed in Metabolix' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 filed on March 29, 2007. Metabolix assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the announcements described herein.