MicroGreen’s assets sold to Dart Container for $3.5M

ARLINGTON — The maker of the ubiquitous red Solo cups, Dart Container swooped in Wednesday to buy up the assets of a defunct cleantech startup in Arlington for $3.5 million.

MicroGreen Polymers’ assets were auctioned off by its main backer, the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde in Oregon. The tribes and other investors sunk roughly $80 million into MicroGreen.

Less than a year ago, the company was ramping up production of its heat-resistant, recyclable plastic cups, which were being used by three major airlines for coffee. MicroGreen’s leaders and supporters promoted their cups’ ability to push out Styrofoam, which can’t be recycled, from the marketplace. They claimed the Arlington company would revolutionize the food packaging industry.

But the company was selling a fancier and costlier version of a commodity product. Sales were hard to come by. The airline contracts were big, but not big enough to offset high production costs or cover the company’s high-interest loan payments.

MicroGreen abruptly closed last spring. It employed more than 160 people at its peak.

The Grand Ronde Tribes hired the Connecticut-based Branford Group to sell off the assets.

What becomes of the company’s promising technology is unclear.

Dart Container could not be reached for comment. The Mason, Michigan-based company could re-open MicroGreen’s Arlington plant or shut it down. It could use the intellectual property in its own production operations, or stick it on a shelf, where it won’t threaten Dart’s market share.

Dart Container has plants in Tacoma and Tumwater.

Aiooa, a company started by a core group of former MicroGreen employees, bid $425,000 for the intellectual property at Wednesday’s auction.

Even so, organizers stopped the auction by early afternoon because the auction’s revenues couldn’t beat Dart Container’s bulk bid.

The MicroGreen veterans at Aiooa have been doing freelance engineering work while they refine their business plan, Tony LaSalata said. He was head of engineering at MicroGreen and is one of Aiooa’s co-owners.

He declined to say what the new company would have done with the intellectual property.

Speaking to the Rotary Club of Arlington last May, Aiooa co-owner and MicroGreen co-founder Krishna Nadella said their new venture is focused on helping companies set up and run manufacturing systems, rather than producing consumer goods itself.

“We failed as a manufacturer of low-cost items, but now we’re designing all new products and equipment,” he said.

Material from the Arlington Times was used in this report.

Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

Black Press Media operates Sound Publishing, the largest community news organization in Washington State with dailies and community news outlets in Alaska.
Black Press Media concludes transition of ownership

Black Press Media, which operates Sound Publishing, completed its sale Monday (March 25), following the formerly announced corporate restructuring.

Maygen Hetherington, executive director of the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, laughs during an interview in her office on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Snohomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Maygen Hetherington: tireless advocate for the city of Snohomish

Historic Downtown Snohomish Association receives the Opportunity Lives Here award from Economic Alliance.

FILE - Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs poses in front of photos of the 15 people who previously held the office on Nov. 22, 2021, after he was sworn in at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Hobbs faces several challengers as he runs for election to the office he was appointed to last fall. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs: ‘I wanted to serve my country’

Hobbs, a former Lake Stevens senator, is the recipient of the Henry M. Jackson Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Mark Duffy poses for a photo in his office at the Mountain Pacific Bank headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Mark Duffy: Building a hometown bank; giving kids an opportunity

Mountain Pacific Bank’s founder is the recipient of the Fluke Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Barb Tolbert poses for a photo at Silver Scoop Ice Cream on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Barb Tolbert: Former mayor piloted Arlington out of economic brink

Tolbert won the Elson S. Floyd Award, honoring a leader who has “created lasting opportunities” for the underserved.

Photo provided by 
Economic Alliance
Economic Alliance presented one of the Washington Rising Stem Awards to Katie Larios, a senior at Mountlake Terrace High School.
Mountlake Terrace High School senior wins state STEM award

Katie Larios was honored at an Economic Alliance gathering: “A champion for other young women of color in STEM.”

The Westwood Rainier is one of the seven ships in the Westwood line. The ships serve ports in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia. (Photo provided by Swire Shipping)
Westwood Shipping Lines, an Everett mainstay, has new name

The four green-hulled Westwood vessels will keep their names, but the ships will display the Swire Shipping flag.

A Keyport ship docked at Lake Union in Seattle in June 2018. The ship spends most of the year in Alaska harvesting Golden King crab in the Bering Sea. During the summer it ties up for maintenance and repairs at Lake Union. (Keyport LLC)
In crabbers’ turbulent moment, Edmonds seafood processor ‘saved our season’

When a processing plant in Alaska closed, Edmonds-based business Keyport stepped up to solve a “no-win situation.”

Angela Harris, Executive Director of the Port of Edmonds, stands at the port’s marina on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Edmonds, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Leadership, love for the Port of Edmonds got exec the job

Shoring up an aging seawall is the first order of business for Angela Harris, the first woman to lead the Edmonds port.

The Cascade Warbirds fly over Naval Station Everett. (Sue Misao / The Herald file)
Bothell High School senior awarded $2,500 to keep on flying

Cascade Warbirds scholarship helps students 16-21 continue flight training and earn a private pilot’s certificate.

Rachel Gardner, the owner of Musicology Co., a new music boutique record store on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. Musicology Co. will open in February, selling used and new vinyl, CDs and other music-related merchandise. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Edmonds record shop intends to be a ‘destination for every musician’

Rachel Gardner opened Musicology Co. this month, filling a record store gap in Edmonds.

MyMyToyStore.com owner Tom Harrison at his brick and mortar storefront on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burst pipe permanently closes downtown Everett toy store

After a pipe flooded the store, MyMyToystore in downtown Everett closed. Owner Tom Harrison is already on to his next venture.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.