DANBURY, Conn. (October 28, 2012) – Sealed Air today introduced Restore™ Mushroom® Packaging, a 100 percent renewable protective packaging solution made from non-food agricultural byproducts and mycelium, or “mushroom roots.” The first commercialized use of the technology developed by Ecovative Design, Sealed Air’s Restore™ Mushroom® Packaging harnesses the power of mycelium to bind agricultural waste into a molded shape that offers customers an all-natural, engineered protective packaging solution that is home compostable.

“This product really offers the complete package when it comes to sustainable solutions,” said Tim McInerney, sustainable solutions business manager for Sealed Air protective packaging. “It provides equal performance to traditional materials, it’s home compostable, and, unlike many products made from renewable materials, it’s cost-neutral.”

Sealed Air’s Restore™ cushions are custom-engineered to meet customers’ individual needs and are grown through a low-energy and automated process, which involves filling the raw materials evenly into forms that allow them to take the final shapes. The mycelium is mixed with regionally sourced agricultural waste and grows indoors without the need for light, watering, or petrochemicals. Additionally, Sealed Air Restore™ cushions are completely biodegradable and home compostable, allowing for easy and environmentally sound disposal.

“As the exclusive provider of this product in North America, we are excited to add Sealed Air Restore™ Mushroom® Packaging to our expanding portfolio of sustainable and reliable protective packaging solutions,” said McInerney. “By utilizing Sealed Air’s existing network and capabilities, such as our world-class manufacturing facilities and vast supply chain infrastructure, we can efficiently bring this product to market as rapidly as possible. Through the use of materials that are 100 percent renewable and bio-based, Sealed Air exhibits how innovative ealed Air Restore™ Release thinking can change the way we look at natural resources and defy antiquated manufacturing boundaries.”

Restore™ Mushroom® Packaging can be used for most cushioning and blocking and bracing scenarios and nearly any application, including automotive parts, lighting fixtures and even electronics. The new packaging also aligns with Sealed Air’s SmartLife™ commitment to sustainability and providing packaging solutions that reduce waste throughout the supply chain. Sustainably sourced using non-petrochemical materials, Restore™ turns agricultural waste material into a packaging solution that provides the right amount of protection using the least amount of materials.

To learn more about Restore™ Mushroom® Packaging, please visit www.restorepackaging.com or call 1-800-648-9093.

As part of the agreement, Sealed Air will be the exclusive licensee of Ecovative’s mycelium based material technology in North America for protective packaging applications.  Since January, Sealed Air and Ecovative have been developing together plans for sales and marketing as well as the augmentation of production capabilities.  Sealed Air plans to begin offering the new products immediately.

“We have been pleased with our relationship with Sealed Air and have seen how their sales network, strong packaging design capabilities, and world-class supply chain will help us further our vision and broaden our impact, providing an innovative and effective alternative to petrochemical based packaging at a much larger scale,” said Eben Bayer, CEO of Ecovative.

“We are excited to be the exclusive provider of Ecovative’s technology for protective packaging applications. The Ecovative Design team has created a fundamental material technology, using the unique properties of mycelium, to provide solutions to protective packaging.  And we have seen their success in manipulating these materials’ properties to produce varying density, strength, texture, and appearance to meet different performance needs of a variety of customer applications,” said Ryan Flanagan, President of Sealed Air’s Protective Packaging business.

“The agreement also furthers our SmartLife™ commitment to sustainability and providing solutions that reduce waste throughout the supply chain.  This technology turns an agricultural waste material into a packaging solution that meets our customers’ performance needs and protects against their products being damage during shipping.  Furthermore, it broadens our product portfolio for molded shapes and potentially other applications,” Flanagan added.

Sealed Air’s Protective Packaging business delivers an extensive portfolio of protective, industrial and display packaging systems to meet diverse application requirements across a broad range of industries.  Sealed Air operates Packaging Design Centers globally and delivers a compelling value proposition that comes from a total solution approach that positively benefits multiple areas of customer operations – ultimately driving efficiencies and business value from the plant floor to their customers’ doorsteps.

Details of the transaction were not disclosed.  Sealed Air does not expect the transaction to be material to its consolidated financial position or results of operations.

About Sealed Air
Sealed Air is a global leader in food safety and security, facility hygiene and product protection. With widely recognized and inventive brands such as Bubble Wrap®  brand cushioning, Cryovac^® brand food packaging solutions and Diversey^TM brand cleaning and hygiene solutions, Sealed Air offers efficient and sustainable solutions that create business value for customers, enhance the quality of life for consumers and provide a cleaner and healthier environment for future generations. On a pro forma basis, Sealed Air generated revenue of $8.1 billion in 2011, and has approximately 26,300 employees who serve customers in 175 countries. To learn more, visit www.sealedair.com.

About Ecovative
Founded in 2007, Ecovative is a materials science company developing a new class of home-compostable bioplastics based on mycelium, an organism akin to a living polymer. Ecovative’s high-performance products serve as environmentally responsible alternatives to traditional foam packaging, insulation, and other plastic-based materials. Ecovative was incubated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Rensselaer, together with 3M Company and the DOEN Foundation, are significant investors in Ecovative. Ecovative has been recognized with numerous international awards for sustainability and “green” technologies, and was named a Tech Pioneer at the 2011 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Ecovative’s growth has been fueled by grants, prizes, and support from key partners including the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance. For more information, visit  www.ecovativedesign.com, www.mushroompackaging.com,  and follow @ecovative on Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements

Company statements in this press release may be forward-looking.  These statements include comments as to future events that may affect the Company, which are based upon management’s current expectations and are subject to uncertainties, many of which are outside the Company’s control.  Forward-looking statements can be identified by such words as “anticipates,” “expects,” “will” and similar expressions. A variety of factors may cause actual results to differ materially from these expectations, including:  economic conditions affecting packaging utilization; changes in raw material costs; currency translation effects; and legal proceedings. For more extensive information, see “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” which appear in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and as may be revised and updated by our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K.

Media Contacts:

Ken Aurichio

Sealed Air Corporation

(201) 791-7600

Ken.aurichio@sealedair.com

Sam Harrington

Ecovative

(518) 273-3753 ext. 1004

sam@ecovativedesign.com

On Wednesday, March 14th, Ecovative CEO, Eben Bayer will be speaking at the Sustainability in Packaging conference in Orlando Florida.

The topic of Eben’s talk is, “Mushroom Technology: Using Low-Tech Biotech to Grow Home Compostable Packaging, Auto-parts, and Building Materials”

EcoCradle Mushroom Packaging has been called the most exciting sustainable packaging development ever. Ecovative has recently signed an exciting deal with Sealed Air Corporation to help accelerate the adoption of this revolutionary protective packaging material.

Founded in 2007 and incubated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Ecovative adapts living systems to create novel biomaterials and products.  EcoCradle® Mushroom™ Packaging is a cost-effective and home compostable product that is made from renewable, non-food agriculture materials. The products are used by a number of Fortune 500 Companies and have won a number of prestigious awards in packaging, including the DuPont Packaging Innovation Diamond Award, the Greener Package “Innovator of the Year” award and Popular Science’s “Best of What’s New”.

“Ecovative is extremely excited to be partnering with Sealed Air to bring EcoCradle® packaging to a world-wide audience. Over the last 5 years, Ecovative has established itself as a leader in sustainable, cost effective biomaterials. We are thrilled to combine this with Sealed Air’s global sales network, strong packaging design capabilities, and world-class supply chain. Together we are furthering our vision and broadening our impact, providing an innovative and effective alternative to petrochemical based packaging at a much larger scale,” said Eben Bayer, CEO of Ecovative.

Sealed Air’s Protective Packaging business delivers an extensive portfolio of protective, industrial and display packaging systems to meet diverse application requirements across a broad range of industries.  Sealed Air operates 35 Packaging Design and Development Centers globally and delivers a compelling value proposition that comes from a total solution approach that positively benefits multiple areas of customer operations – ultimately driving efficiencies and business value from the plant floor to their customers’ doorsteps.

“We are excited by the prospects of working with Ecovative.  This entrepreneurial team has created fundamental material technology, using the unique properties of mycelium, to provide solutions to packaging, as well as other applications.  Ecovative has been able to use its science to manipulate material properties, varying density, strength, texture, and appearance to meet different performance needs of a variety of customer applications,” said Ryan Flanagan, President of Sealed Air’s Protective Packaging business.  “Coupling Ecovative’s technology with Sealed Air’s packaging knowledge and infrastructure will allow us to accelerate this innovation to meet our customers’ needs.”

Details of the transaction were not disclosed.  Sealed Air does not expect the transaction to be material to its consolidated financial position or results of operations.

About Sealed Air
Sealed Air is the new global leader in food safety and security, facility hygiene and product protection. With widely recognized and inventive brands such as Bubble Wrap^® brand cushioning, Cryovac^® brand food packaging solutions and Diversey^® brand cleaning and hygiene solutions, Sealed Air offers efficient and sustainable solutions that create business value for customers, enhance the quality of life for consumers and provide a cleaner and healthier environment for future generations. On a pro forma basis, Sealed Air generated revenue of $7.6 billion in 2010 and has approximately 26,000 employees who serve customers in 175 countries. To learn more, visit www.sealedair.com.

About Ecovative
Founded in 2007, Ecovative is a materials science company developing a new class of home-compostable plastics based on mycelium, an organism akin to a living polymer. Ecovative’s high-performance products serve as environmentally responsible alternatives to traditional foam packaging, insulation, and other plastic-based materials. Ecovative was incubated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Rensselaer, together with 3M Company and the DOEN Foundation, are significant investors in Ecovative. Ecovative has been recognized with numerous international awards for sustainability and “green” technologies, and was named a Tech Pioneer at the 2011 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Ecovative’s growth has been fueled by grants, prizes, and support from key partners including the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance. For more information, visit  www.ecovativedesign.com, www.mushroompackaging.com,  and follow @ecovative on Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements

Company statements in this press release may be forward-looking.  These statements include comments as to future events that may affect the Company, which are based upon management’s current expectations and are subject to uncertainties, many of which are outside the Company’s control.  Forward-looking statements can be identified by such words as “anticipates,” “expects,” “will” and similar expressions. A variety of factors may cause actual results to differ materially from these expectations, including:  economic conditions affecting packaging utilization; changes in raw material costs; currency translation effects; and legal proceedings. For more extensive information, see “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” which appear in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and as may be revised and updated by our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K.

Ecovative CEO Eben Bayer will be attending and presenting at the Sustainability in Packaging conference on March 12-14th in Orlando Florida. The topic of his presentation is: Mushroom Technology: Using Low-Tech Biotech to Grow Home Compostable Packaging, Auto-parts, and Building Materials

Current Ecovative customers and clients are eligible for a big discount to attend this conference. If you’re a customer of ours, contact us for details.

“When we talk about mushrooms, we typically muse on any combination of three sub-strains: Recreational foraging, adventures in a psychedelic Legoland, and underrated pizza toppings.

But not Eben Bayer. As the toe-shoe wearing cofounder and CEO of Ecovative Design, he talks about mushrooms as if they’re the precise opposite of delicate, spore-bearing fungi that duly spring forth from damp soil and waste. When Bayer talks ’shrooms, he’s talking about industrial-strength packaging.”

Ecovative has been collaborating with Oliver’s team at Dell to develop EcoCradle® Mushroom™ Packaging parts for their server multi-packs. This has led to the elimination of thousands of plastic foam packaging parts.

Part 1

Part 2

Enjoy!

On the cover of their July 2011 issue, our friends at Packaging World ask “Are mushrooms the future of protective packaging?” The answer, of course, is YES! Special thanks to the magazine for featuring EcoCradle on the cover and discussing our products. Be sure to check Pat Reynolds’ “Lead Off” on “The crop waste buzz” in the digital edition!