Alltrista Corporation comments on earnings outlook

INDIANAPOLIS,  Ind.,  October 10,  2000--Alltrista  Corporation  (NYSE:  ALC), a
leader in home food preservation and plastic and zinc-based industrial products,
today  announced that it expects  operating  earnings per diluted share,  before
unusual items, to be 65 to 70 percent lower than the 1999  comparable  $2.86 per
diluted share, which was a record level. Unusual items that will be reflected in
2000  include  charges for the  settlement  of  litigation,  exiting the Central
European home canning test market,  the consolidation of plastics  facilities as
well as the favorable impact resulting from the reversal of previously  expensed
long-term performance-based compensation.

     Thomas B.  Clark,  chairman,  president  and  chief  executive  officer  of
Alltrista  Corporation,  said,  "The continued  downturn in the  heavy-truck and
manufactured  housing  markets,  competitive  pricing  pressures and softness in
healthcare and consumer products markets have adversely  affected results in our
plastics  segment.  In the  metal  products  segment,  demand  for home  canning
products has returned to more normal levels in 2000 after an exceptional year in
1999  affected  by the Y2K  phenomenon.  The  margins on  foreign  sales of zinc
products have been negatively affected by the strength of the U.S. dollar."

         Mr.  Clark  concluded,  "We expect  these  market  factors to  continue
through the remainder of the year.  Management has  implemented  aggressive cost
reduction  programs  and  sales  initiatives  to  counter  the  impact on future
operating  results.  In  September,  we announced the  consolidation  of certain
thermoforming facilities. We have also instituted a workforce reduction and have
realigned  the  organizational  structure in the plastics  segment.  The pre-tax
earnings  impact of these  initiatives  to the  corporation is anticipated to be
approximately  $10  million on an annual  basis,  all of which is expected to be
realized in 2001."

     Alltrista Corporation is scheduled to announce actual results for its third
quarter ended October 1, 2000 on October 25.  Senior  management  will conduct a
conference call that day for interested  parties,  which will be Web cast on the
corporation's Web site by StreetEvents.

     Alltrista 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
food preservation 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. Please visit the company's
Web site at www.alltrista.com for further information.

Note: This news release contains forward-looking  statements intended to qualify
for the  Safe  Harbor  from  liability  established  by the  Private  Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995,  including  statements  regarding the outlook for
Alltrista's  markets  and the demand for its  products.  These  projections  and
statements are based on management's  estimates and assumptions  with respect to
future  events and  financial  performance  and are  believed to be  reasonable,
though are inherently  uncertain and difficult to predict.  Actual results could
differ  materially  from  those  projected  as a result of  certain  factors.  A
discussion  of factors  that could  cause  results to vary are  included  in the
Company's  periodic  reports filed with the Securities and Exchange  Commission,
including  its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended  December 31,  1999,  and its
Form 10-Q for the three months ended July 2, 2000.

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