After Gillibrand Nomination, Eco-Group Wins Prestigious Environmental Award

Albany, NY – Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, congratulated Ecovative Design for winning the 2012 Environmental Quality Award. Located in Green Island, Ecovative Design is leading the way in creating environmentally-responsible products that replace traditional foam packaging, such as Styrofoam, insulation, and denser materials, such as particle board. The organization, which Senator Gillibrand nominated this past February, is set to receive the Environmental Protection Agency’s prestigious honor for their commitment and significant contributions to greening communities.

“I congratulate Ecovative Design for their dedication to securing a cleaner New York,” said Senator Gillibrand. “This environmental champion is paving the way towards a green energy future, revolutionizing our packaging and products using eco-friendly, sustainable materials.”

“The US EPA was the first supporter of our research under the Small Business Innovation Research program in 2008, and now we are honored to receive this recognition since we have scaled the business and are manufacturing environmentally-responsible product,” said Gavin McIntyre, Chief Scientist at Ecovative Design.

Founded in 2007, Ecovative Design, which makes eco-friendly packaging, building materials, automotive products, uses materials that are environmentally low-impact, 100% biodegradable and renewable, and are part of a healthy ecosystem.  Unlike other bio-plastics, the group’s technology is not based on turning food or fuel crops into materials. Ecovative Design uses inedible crop waste to grow their products, which can be composted right in users’ backyard, making Ecovative Design truly sustainable.

Awards, which recognize individuals and organizations that have improved the environment and public health in EPA Region 2 (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and seven federally-recognized Indian Nations), will be formally presented to New York organizations in a ceremony on Friday, April 27^th at the EPA Regional Headquarters in New York City.

On Friday April 27th, Ecovative CEO Eben Bayer will be speaking at the Nifty Fifty program. He will be sharing the story of Ecovative to help ignite middle and high school students’ pasion for science and engineering.

The USA Science & Engineering Festival is the country’s only national science festival, and was developed to increase public awareness of the importance of science and to encourage youth to pursue careers in science and engineering by celebrating science in much the same way as we celebrate Hollywood celebrities, professional athletes and pop stars.

You can learn more about this event here: http://www.usasciencefestival.org/news/press-releases

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.

About Nifty Fifty:

The Nifty Fifty (times 2) are 100 of the most dynamic scientists and engineers in the United States. They were selected for their unique ability to inspire the next generation of students to pursue careers in the STEM fields. They were chosen from among thousands of candidates nominated by over 500 leading professional science and engineering societies, universities, research institutions, government agencies, STEM education outreach organizations and leading high tech and life science companies.

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

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.

Gavin will be answering the questions:
How have successful regions built their economies around technology industries?
What are the elements behind successful technology-based ventures?
How can regions use a cluster strategy that goes beyond slogans and hype?

Gavin will be joined on the panel by Dan Berglund, President and CEO of Ohio’s State Science and Technology Institute, and Paul Tolley, Executive Director of Smart Systems Technology Commercialization Center.