Recognized by the Guardian and Cleantech Group for potential and likelihood to achieve high growth and high market impact
 
Richmond, CA  USA – September 15, 2009: MBA Polymers, the world leader at recycling plastics from end of life durable goods such as computers, electronics, appliances and automobiles, today announced it has been named a Global Cleantech 100 company by Guardian News and Media and Cleantech Group™, LLC, providers of leading research, events and advisory services for the cleantech ecosystem.

The Global Cleantech 100 is the first ever list highlighting the most promising private clean technology companies around the world. Supported by the Carbon Trust, the Global Cleantech 100 recognises companies at the forefront of cleantech innovation offering solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

The final list represents the collective opinion of hundreds of leading experts from cleantech innovation and venture capital companies in EMEA, North America, India and China, combined with the specific input of an expert panel of 35, drawn from well-respected organisations such as Altira Group, Crossover Advisors, Deloitte, Emerald Technology Ventures, Google, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, New York Stock Exchange, NGEN Partners, Nth Power, New Enterprise Associates, Sterling Communications, Tsing Capital and Vantage Point Venture Partners.

The panel’s views were combined with insights from the Cleantech Network™, the de facto industry association of international clean technology investors, entrepreneurs, large corporations and other industry insiders. Some 3,500 companies were nominated/considered.

“The first ever Global Cleantech 100 shines a spotlight on which companies and which technology areas the global innovation community is most excited about from a commercial standpoint,” said Richard Youngman, managing partner at Cleantech Group.

“This award is a great tribute and I’m pleased to accept it on behalf of MBA Polymers and all of our employees, partners and investors.  It’s nice to get recognition for the significant advancements we have made through our team’s innovation and for the resulting contribution to humanity. We are also proud to demonstrate that environmental and economic benefits can and should coincide said Dr. Mike Biddle, President and Founder of MBA Polymers.

MBA Polymers and other winners were honoured today at Cleantech Forum XXIII in Boston, 8-10 September 2009 (www.cleantech.com/bostonforum) and will be celebrated at Cleantech Forum XXIV in Delhi, 15-16 October 2009 (www.cleantech.com/delhiforum) and at the Guardian’s UK Cleantech Summit in London on 23 November 2009 (guardian.co.uk/cleantechsummit).

MBA Polymers received the award on the basis of its innovative technology and business model.  Not only does MBA’s technology use waste as feedstock instead of petrochemicals, it also reduces the amount of energy required to manufacture the plastics by over 90% compared to a typical virgin plastics plant. MBA also saves between one and three tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere per ton of virgin plastics it replaces. 

Dr. Biddle explains: “We recover the energy intensive and difficult work that was used to create these polymers in the first place by rescuing these plastics from the waste stream.  We merely clean, separate and purify them from existing waste streams using a much simpler and more energy efficient “above ground mining” approach to clean, separate and purify the plastics compared to the complicated and expensive chemical synthesis and polymerization processes used to make virgin plastics.”

Not only has the company developed breakthrough separation and upgrading technology, MBA has rolled out the technology commercially on a global scale with plants operating in the US, China and Austria and is building in the UK its largest plant, which will open in 2010.

More than half (56) of the companies listed on the Global Cleantech 100 are headquartered in North America, while European firms make up 36 percent. Five firms are based in Israel and three in India.

The full list of Global Cleantech 100 firms is available on the Guardian (guardian.co.uk/globalcleantech100) and Cleantech Group (cleantech.com/news/awards/globalcleantech100) websites.