~ Gevo’s technology will help create a viable alternative to
fossil-fuel based packaging ~
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 2011--
Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO), a leading renewable chemicals and advanced
biofuels company, today announced a groundbreaking agreement with The
Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola) to create renewable para-xylene from plant
based isobutanol, which will accelerate the development of Coca-Cola’s
second-generation PlantBottle™ packaging made from 100% plant-based
materials. Gevo will work with Coca-Cola to enable and deliver an
integrated system to produce renewable para-xylene, a key building block
towards reaching Coca-Cola’s goal of creating all of their packaging
from renewable materials. The work will take the technology from
lab-scale to commercial scale and support Coca-Cola’s efforts to lead
the beverage industry away from fossil-fuel based packaging by offering
an alternative made completely from renewable resources.
“While the technology to make biobased materials in a lab has been
available for many years, we believe Gevo possess technologies that have
high potential to create it on a global commercial level within the next
few years,” said Rick Frazier, Vice President Commercial Product Supply,
The Coca-Cola Company. “This is a significant R&D investment in
packaging innovation and is the next step toward our vision of creating
all of our PET plastic packaging from responsibly sourced plant
materials.”
Coca-Cola identified Gevo as a leader in the race to commercialize
renewable PET following an exhaustive search and evaluation of
technologies from around the world. The global market for PET is 54
million metric tons and has a value of $100 billion, with approximately
30% used for plastic bottles. In this next generation of PlantBottle™
packaging, Coca-Cola plans to produce bottles entirely from renewable
raw materials.
“We are extremely gratified to have won the confidence of The Coca-Cola
Company and are excited to support Coca-Cola’s sustainable packaging
goals with this agreement to develop and commercialize technology to
produce para-xylene from biobased isobutanol,” said Patrick Gruber, CEO
of Gevo. “New technologies need champions. The Coca-Cola Company is in a
unique position to drive and influence change in the global packaging
supply chain with this development. You cannot ask for a better champion
than one of the world’s most respected and admired consumer brands.”
Isobutanol is a four-carbon fermentation alcohol that can be converted
into para-xylene using known chemical processes. Para-xylene is a key
raw material in PET production. Gevo has previously announced supplying
Japanese chemical giant Toray with lab-scale quantities of renewable
para-xylene. Toray has successfully converted Gevo’s para-xylene into
PET films and fibers.
About Gevo
Gevo is converting existing ethanol plants into biorefineries to make
renewable building block products for the chemical and fuel industries.
The Company plans to convert renewable raw materials into isobutanol and
renewable hydrocarbons that can be directly integrated on a “drop in”
basis into existing chemical and fuel products to deliver environmental
and economic benefits. Gevo is committed to a sustainable biobased
economy that meets society’s needs for plentiful food and clean air and
water. For more information, visit www.gevo.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements
that are not purely statements of historical fact, and can sometimes be
identified by our use of terms such as “intend,” “expect,” “plan,”
“estimate,” “future,” “strive” and similar words. These forward-looking
statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations
and assumptions of the management of Gevo and are subject to significant
risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and
the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected
in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements
involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to
differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these
forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those
expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating
to the business of Gevo in general, see the risk disclosures in the
Annual Report on Form 10-K of Gevo for the year ended December 31, 2010,
and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made
with the SEC by Gevo.
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Source: Gevo, Inc.
Media:
Peppercom for Gevo
Erin Howard, 212-931-6174
ehoward@peppercom.com
or
Investor:
Stern
IR for Gevo
Julia Avery, 212-362-1200
julia@sternir.com