25 Oct 2001

ComPETe® gives PolyOne a competitive edge in European PET market.

DÜSSELDORF, October 25, 2001: - PolyOne announces the launch of a new kind of color concentrate masterbatch in Europe. As glass bottles are increasingly being replaced by PET (polyethylene terephthalate) in the cosmetic and beverage markets, new color concentrates are being researched and developed. Traditionally, color concentrates (or masterbatches) have been made by dispersing pigment in a polymer and making it into pellets, 2-3 mm in diameter. For high volume applications such as PET bottles, these pellets have proved an effective and excellent alternative to costly pre-colored compounds.

ComPETe® is a micro-bead system, which has several advantages over both traditional pellets and liquid masterbatches. Due to the size of the beads, it has high dispersion in blow-molded PET, which gives very consistent coloring even with light tints. It can also be used in extremely high let-downs of less than 0.5%. ComPETe is also a far easier product to handle than liquid masterbatches and processing equipment needs minimal cleaning. The ComPETe range includes variants, which are available with a combination of color and additives such as UV protection.

The ComPETe range is being produced on new production lines at the PolyOne plant in Gyor, Hungary. Full production started in July 2001 and further investment in the plant is expected in the fourth quarter of the year. North American customers will also be able to take advantage of the benefits which ComPETe offers, using product sourced from PolyOne in the USA.

ComPETe masterbatches are pioneers in a new era of color concentrates which offer more consistent coloring and are cleaner to handle. Should you have any questions regarding the use of ComPETe in your processes, the PolyOne local technical representatives are available for advice.

PolyOne is featuring the company’s vast portfolio of products for the plastics industry and end-use applications for a broad array of market segments in the new hall 6 stand 6C40 here at the ‘K’ show, the industry’s largest international triennial exhibition staged from October 25 to November 1.

® ComPETe is a registered trademark of PolyOne Corporation or of its affiliates.

Reader enquiries

PolyOne Corporation
33587 Walker Road
Cleveland
Ohio
U.S.A.

+1 440 930 1000

www.polyone.com

Notes for editors

PolyOne Corporation, with revenues of approximately $3 billion, is an international polymer services company with operations in thermoplastic compounds, specialty resins, specialty polymer formulations, engineered films, color and additive systems, elastomer compounding and thermoplastic resin distribution.

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, PolyOne has more than 9,000 employees at 80 manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, and joint ventures in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Information on the Company’s products and services can be found at www.polyone.com.

Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This release contains statements concerning trends and other forward-looking information affecting or relating to PolyOne Corporation and its industries that are intended to qualify for the protections afforded “forward-looking statements” under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from such statements for a variety of factors including, but not limited to: (1) the risk that the former Geon and M.A. Hanna businesses will not be integrated successfully; (2) an inability to achieve or delays in achieving savings related to the consolidation and restructuring programs; (3) unanticipated delays in achieving or inability to achieve cost reduction and employee productivity goals; (4) costs related to the consolidation of Geon and M.A. Hanna; (5) the effect on foreign operations of currency fluctuations, tariffs, nationalization, exchange controls, limitations on foreign investment in local businesses, and other political, economic and regulatory risks; (6) unanticipated changes in world, regional or U.S. PVC or other plastics consumption growth rates affecting the Corporation’s markets; (7) unanticipated changes in global industry capacity or in the rate at which anticipated changes in industry capacity come online in the PVC, VCM, chlor-alkali or other industries in which the Company participates; (8) fluctuations in raw material prices and supply, and in particular fluctuations outside the normal range of industry cycles; (9) unanticipated production outages or material costs associated with scheduled or unscheduled maintenance programs; (10) unanticipated delay in realizing, or inability to realize, expected cost savings from acquisitions; (11) unanticipated costs or difficulties and delays related to the operation of the joint venture entities; (12) lack of day-to-day operating control, including procurement of raw material feedstocks, of the OxyVinyls partnership; (13) lack of direct control over the reliability of delivery and quality of the primary raw materials utilized in the Company’s products; (14) partial control over investment decisions and dividend distribution policy of the OxyVinyls partnership.