Alltrista Corporation acquires
                 Missouri-based marketer of portable restrooms

INDIANAPOLIS,  Ind.,  June 2, 2000--  Alltrista  Corporation  (NYSE:  ALC) today
reported   that  it  has  acquired  the  assets  of  Synergy   World,   Inc.,  a
Missouri-based  designer  and marketer of portable  restrooms  sold to equipment
rental  companies,  waste services  companies and diversified  sanitation firms.
Price of the purchase, completed on June 1, 2000, was not disclosed.

     Synergy World employs 10 people at its St.  Louis,  Missouri  headquarters.
The company had 1999 sales of $10.5 million.

     "Alltrista Corporation,  under a supply agreement,  has produced all of the
units sold by  Synergy  over the last four  years in our  vertically  integrated
plastic sheet  extrusion and  thermoforming  operations,"  said Thomas B. Clark,
chairman,  president and chief executive officer of Alltrista. "Sales to Synergy
during this period have increased at a compound  annual growth rate of 32%." Mr.
Clark added, "Synergy is one of the leaders in the U.S. market, a position which
it attained  through superior design,  quality and marketing  capabilities.  Our
growth  strategy  for Synergy  will be leveraged  off our  substantial  scale in
plastic sheet extrusion and thermoforming."

     Worldwide, the portable sanitation market is estimated to have annual sales
of $1.5 billion and has grown at a 7.2% annual rate over the past decade.

     Alltrista  Corporation  is a  materials-based  company.  Its plastics group
serves numerous fields including healthcare,  consumer, appliance, motor vehicle
and  industrial  markets.  Through its metals  group,  Alltrista  is the leading
supplier of home canning products,  under the Ball(R),  Kerr(R) and Bernardin(R)
brands,  and is the  country's  largest  producer  of zinc strip and  fabricated
products, including coin blanks for the U.S. and foreign mints.

Note: This news release may contain forward-looking  statements as encouraged by
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements
are projections that are subject to change upon the occurrence of certain events
which may affect the business,  many of which are set forth as an exhibit in the
company's Form 10-K report filed with the Securities and Exchange  Commission on
March 30, 2000.

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