WILSONVILLE, OR--(Marketwire - Aug 17, 2011) - Trellis Earth Products, Inc. ("Trellis" or the "Company"), a rapidly growing supplier and manufacturer of branded biodegradable food packaging and plastic bags made with renewable resources, today announced new executive and Board appointments, effective in July and August 2011.

Craig Mittelstaedt has joined Trellis Earth as Vice President of Operations and General Manager. Prior to joining the Company, he served as General Manager for Elite Plastics, a division of GM Nameplate, from 2001 to 2011. He previously served as General Manager of SPM/Dynacast, a division of Dynacast U.K., in Hillsboro, Oregon and as Vice President and General Manager PPI Inc., a diversified plastics and contract manufacturing company based in Seattle. He has studied business and engineering at Warwick Business School, U.K., the University of Washington, and Mount Hood Community College.

Yang Hu has joined Trellis Earth as Vice President of Research & Development. Dr. Hu holds a PhD in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, a Master's degree from the Department of Chemistry, Université Joseph Fourier-Grenoble I, Grenoble, France, and a Master's Degree in Process Engineering of Agricultural Products from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Food Science & Engineering with a minor in Industry and Business Administration from Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China. He is widely published in peer-review journals and has multiple bioplastics patents in China and the U.S.

John Metcalf has joined Trellis Earth as Audit & Compensation Committee Chairman and a Director. Mr. Metcalf currently serves as Audit Committee Chairman of ParkerVision Inc. and Energy Connect Inc., a division of Johnson Controls. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Electro Scientific Industries and is former CFO of Siltronic Corporation, Zight Corporation, Wafertech, LLC, Siltec Corporation, and Oki Semiconductor. He has also held multiple Controller positions at Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Mr. Metcalf holds an MBA in Finance and a Bachelor's of Science in Business/Marketing from the University of California, Berkeley.

Neil Nelson has joined Trellis Earth as a Director. Mr. Nelson is President and CEO of Siltronic Corp., a role he has held since 2003. He serves on the boards of directors for Siltronic Corp., Oregon Business Council and Associated Oregon Industries, and Portland General Electric, where he is a member of the Audit Committee, and the Compensation and Human Resources Committees. Mr. Nelson received his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University.

Lee Weeks has joined the company to oversee its retail product marketing efforts. Mr. Weeks has a career that spans over 40 years of selling products into supermarkets, mass merchandisers and the distribution channels that serve them. He estimates in his career he has sold over $200 million dollars worth of packaged products into retailers, representing companies such as Sterling Plastics, Sterilite Corporation, North American Philips, Kellogg Brushes, Fasco Fans, and many more. At Trellis Earth he will focus on retail merchandising, channel development, and sales into the grocery store vertical market.

Commenting on these appointments, Bill Collins, Founder, President and CEO of Trellis Earth Products, Inc., said, "We are excited to welcome Craig, Yang, John, Neil and Lee to these key positions at Trellis Earth. Their detailed knowledge of Trellis's business and collective experience in operations, manufacturing, research and development, finance, and sales will be invaluable to executing our growth strategy and creating significant value for our shareholders."

Mr. Collins added, "The marketplace for Trellis's branded biodegradable food packing and bioplastic bags continues to grow as U.S. consumers and corporations demand sustainable alternatives to traditional plastics for food service items. Our new appointments bring a level of experience and capability to our team that allows us to strengthen our intellectual property portfolio, support our expansion, and remain a leader in renewable materials technology."

About Trellis Earth Products, Inc.
Trellis Earth Products, Inc. ("Trellis") is a rapidly growing manufacturer and distributor of branded bioplastic food packaging and plastic bags to major retailers, food service vendors and corporations throughout the United States. The Company's products, which include bags, cutlery, clamshells, cups, plates and trays, among other items, are made from bio-based renewable resources such as corn instead of petroleum, allowing for a reduction in carbon footprint. Founded in 2006, Trellis products employ proprietary blends of biomass and polymers for a lower blended average cost of materials. The Company makes both compostable and sustainable/bio-based products in thermoformed, injection molded, and film blown products.

For more information about Trellis Earth products, please visit www.TrellisEarth.com

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains information that constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results described within the forward-looking statements. Risk factors that could contribute to such differences include those matters more fully disclosed in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking information provided herein represents the Company's estimates as of the date of the press release, and subsequent events and developments may cause the Company's estimates to change. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking information in the future. Therefore, this forward-looking information should not be relied upon as representing the Company's estimates of its future financial performance as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

WILSONVILLE, OR--(Marketwire - Aug 5, 2011) - Trellis Earth Products, Inc. ("Trellis" or the "Company"), a rapidly growing supplier and manufacturer of branded biodegradable food packaging and plastic bags made with renewable resources, announced that it has filed two new patents for bioplastics technology with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The first of Trellis' two new patent applications covers an improved method of bioplastics formulation and technology for the Company's "sustainable" starch/hybrid blend, enabling the production of a food safe, waterproof, injection moldable and thermoformable blend at approximately 70% biomass. This represents a modification of the Company's existing product blend ("Trellis Classic Blend") adapted to new, high performance processing equipment for its U.S. manufacturing plant in Wilsonville, Oregon, leading to improved product qualities that include additional strength, higher biomass, lower cost, and greater formability, among other attributes.

Trellis' second patent application covers the U.S. implementation of its "next generation" technology blend for a bioplastic that uses agricultural industry byproducts such as wheat chaff and soybean hulls as feedstock, creating 100% petroleum-free "plastic." This new proprietary blend of biomass will allow the creation of deliware that behaves like paper, but is manufactured with the economies of scale of plastics. This material is water proof and food-contact safe, yet is entirely petroleum free at a lower cost, within the realm of polystyrene manufacturing. This blend is ideal for thermoforming trays and plates for compostable food service and conventional packaging applications. Both patent applications were filed on July 8, 2011.

"We are continuing to strengthen our intellectual property portfolio as the market for bio-based plastics in the food services industry is growing rapidly," stated Bill Collins, Founder, President and CEO of Trellis Earth Products, Inc. "These two new materials represent significant enhancements to enable us to extend our product lines in both retail and wholesale markets, while building on our brand, Trellis Earth® and our commitment to reducing and eliminating petrochemicals from food service disposables, and delivering on our commitment to enabling our customers to 'Go Green For Free,' or at no additional cost to petroleum based plastics."

According to a recent report referenced in Packaging Digest, the global demand for bioplastics is expected to quadruple by 2013, driven by increased interest in the use of plant-based polymers as a result of rising oil prices and fossil fuel depletion. The new report -- The Global Outlook for Biodegradable Packaging -- notes that bioplastics currently accounts for less than 10% of global plastics use and that sector growth is approximately 17% to 20% a year since 2006.

Mr. Collins added, "We are leading the industry into a new era of petroleum free bioplastics that repurpose agricultural by-products and eliminate both the use of food crops and the use of petroleum in plastics. This can greatly reduce the food service and retail packaging industries' reliance on materials that contribute to global warming, and help create new jobs and new opportunities for sustainable business practices at the same time."

About Trellis Earth Products, Inc.

Trellis Earth Products, Inc. ("Trellis") is a rapidly growing manufacturer and distributor of branded bioplastic food packaging and plastic bags to major retailers, food service vendors and corporations throughout the United States. The Company's products, which include bags, cutlery, clamshells, cups, plates and trays, among other items, are based on bio-based renewable resources such as corn instead of petroleum, allowing for a reduction in carbon footprint for its users. Founded in 2006 in Portland, Oregon, the Company makes both compostable and sustainable/bio-based products in thermoformed, injection molded, and film blown products.

For more information about Trellis Earth products, please visit www.TrellisEarth.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains information that constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results described within the forward-looking statements. Risk factors that could contribute to such differences include those matters more fully disclosed in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking information provided herein represents the Company's estimates as of the date of the press release, and subsequent events and developments may cause the Company's estimates to change. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking information in the future. Therefore, this forward-looking information should not be relied upon as representing the Company's estimates of its future financial performance as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.