NEWSRELEASE
For Release: June 21, 2005 Small Business Innovation Supports The Environment Chief Counsel Joins Environmental Protection Agency To Present
The 2005 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award
Contact: John McDowell, (202) 205-6941
john.mcdowell@sba.gov
SBA Number: 05-27 ADVO
Press Kit
WASHINGTON, D.C. By commercializing natural
plastics made from renewable resources such as corn sugar,
the innovative small firm Metabolix, Inc, based in Cambridge,
Mass. is helping to improve environmental quality using a
market-based approach. Its technical innovations won the
Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) 2005 Presidential
Green Chemistry Challenge Award for small business, presented
yesterday by Chief Counsel for Advocacy Thomas M. Sullivan.
Small business innovation goes hand-in-hand with
environmental stewardship, said Sullivan. The
innovations by Metabolix are just one example of how small
businesses are leading the way toward an environmentally friendly
future. By harnessing the power of markets they are able to do
well by doing good, and thats what dynamic market-based
solutions are all about.
According to the firm, Metabolix Natural Plastics are made
through fermentation of renewable resources such as corn sugar
and vegetable oil. They are a versatile family, ranging in
properties from rigid to highly elastic, and can be converted
into molded and thermoformed goods, extruded coatings and film,
blown film, fibers, adhesives, and many other products. They have
excellent shelf life and resistance to hot liquids, greases, and
oils, yet they biodegrade in aquatic, marine and soil
environments and under anaerobic conditions such as found in
septic systems and municipal waste treatment plants.
The EPAs Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards
provide national recognition of outstanding chemical technologies
that incorporate the principles of green chemistry into chemical
design, manufacture, and use, and that have been or can be
utilized by industry in achieving their pollution prevention
goals.
The Office of Advocacy, the small business watchdog
of the government, examines the role and status of small business
in the economy and independently represents the views of small
business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is
the source for small business statistics presented in
user-friendly formats and it funds research into small business
issues.
For more information, visit the Environmental Protection Agency
website at www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/index.html.
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The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business
Administration (SBA) is an independent voice for small business
within the federal government. The presidentially appointed Chief
Counsel for Advocacy advances the views, concerns, interests of
small business before Congress, the White House, federal
agencies, federal courts, and state policy makers. For more
information, visit www.sba.gov/advo,
or call (202) 205-6533.