US bioscience company Metabolix (Cambridge, Massachusetts; www.metabolix.com) on 16 April opened a new office in Cologne / Germany, its first representation outside the United States. Located in the BioCampus Cologne life science park, the office will allow the group to directly access the European biopolymer market and to coordinate its regional activities, including customer service and technical support for Europe.

The move to Europe follows the recent wind-down of Metabolix’s loss-making Telles bioplastics joint venture with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM, Decatur, Illinois / USA; www.adm.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 09.03.2012. In the wake of the Telles closure, Metabolix is on the lookout for new manufacturing and commercialisation partners for PHA bioplastics and recently granted PLA producer NatureWorks (Minnetonka, Minnesota / USA; www.natureworksllc.com) a non-exclusive license for its patented polylactic acid-based blends – see Plasteurope.com of 16.03.2012.

According to a recent study by US market researcher Freedonia (Cleveland, Ohio; www.freedonia.com), the global bioplastics market is expected to reach 1m t/y in 2015, tantamount to a total value of USD 3 bn – see Plasteurope.com of 15.12.2011.