BASF, Seattle Mariners partner to debut compostable snack bags

BASF

BASF is partnering  with one of the greenest teams in Major League Baseball, the Seattle Mariners, and using  peanuts  to debut prototype packaging developed with its advanced biopolymer technology. The first 10,000 fans to arrive at Safeco Field Sept.. 5 to see the Seattle Mariners take on the Boston Red Sox will receive a free bag of peanuts in a 100 percent  compostable snack bag.

"Flexible packaging with this BASF technology is a big step forward for the snack food industry,"
said Kimberley Schiltz, Market Development Manager Consumer Packaging, BASF. "It means
that popular snack foods can be brought to market in compostable packaging that delivers
needed shelf-life at a competitive price point, with a more sustainable ‘end-of-life' solution than
with conventional packaging materials."

As a member of the Green Sports Alliance, the Seattle Mariners' aggressive zero-waste goals
make Safeco Field a natural place for BASF to introduce this new sustainable snack packaging
to the American public. This season, the team is on track to divert 85 percent  of its waste from
landfills, up from just 12 percent  in 2006. Mariners VP of Operations, Scott Jenkins, has his sights set
on 90 percent  diversion, but closing the gap has proven to be an elusive goal. "All of our service ware
is already compostable, but snack food bags have been one of the biggest barriers preventing
us from getting to our goal," said Jenkins. "Flexible packaging made with BASF biopolymers
could represent the holy grail of greening for our waste stream."

Like all advances in sustainability, major breakthroughs must balance economic and environmental interests. As Jenkins puts it, "Whenever there are contaminants in our compost stream, like regular snack bags and candy wrappers, we have to pay a premium to have them removed by hand. If all of the snacks sold at Safeco came in compostable packaging, it would represent a significant savings of time and money for the team and get us a whole lot closer to achieving zero waste."

People who follow the industry may remember earlier attempts to introduce fully compostable
snack packaging that fell short of consumer expectations. BASF's biopolymers technology can
meet those expectations and provide a viable solution to the snack food packaging industry.
"Compostable snack food packaging made with BASF's advanced technology can put us much
further down the path to a zero-waste world, much faster," said Stephan Banchero, Cedar Grove
Composting, General Manager.

As municipalities grapple with how best to implement greening initiatives and engage citizens,
this kind of technology could represent a more convenient alternative to the punitive approach
already in place in some cities.

"We welcome technological advances like this that inspire our entire society to move toward
sustainability and help municipalities like the City of Seattle divert more waste than ever away
from landfills." said Brett Stav, Seattle Public Utilities, Senior Planning & Development
Specialist.

To learn more about BASFd biopolymers technology, please visit
www.basf.us/sustainablepackaging