Applied Extrusion Technologies, Inc. Announces Retirement of CEO.

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 2002

Applied Extrusion Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ NMS - AETC) today announced that Thomas E. Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer, will retire effective September 30, 2002. At that time, Amin J. Khoury, Company founder and Chairman of the Board, will take on the additional role of Chief Executive Officer, and David Terhune, Chief Operating Officer, will be promoted to the position of President. Mr. Williams will continue to serve on the Company's Board of Directors.

"Mr. Williams has made numerous valuable contributions during his ten years with the Company," commented Mr. Khoury. "Under his leadership, AET has been transformed from a Company with $40,000,000 in sales to one with over $250,000,000 in sales, reflecting the acquisition of the OPP Packaging Films Group of Hercules in 1994 and the purchase of two OPP film competitors and, as a result, has achieved a leading position in the North American OPP films market. Tom has been particularly instrumental in building a strong and deep management organization. The Company and its Board of Directors express their appreciation to Mr. Williams, and wish him the best in his retirement," concluded Mr. Khoury.

In announcing his decision to retire, Mr. Williams said, "I have thoroughly enjoyed my years with AET and am pleased with the strategic accomplishments we have made. I now look forward to spending more time with my family and doing some extensive traveling that my wife and I have been planning for years."

Applied Extrusion Technologies, Inc. is a leading North American developer and manufacturer of specialized oriented polypropylene (OPP) films used primarily in consumer products labeling and flexible packaging applications.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this report are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including those risks related to the ability to implement a price increase and related volume losses, the timely development and acceptance of new products, fluctuations in raw materials and other production costs, the ability to satisfy our debt service requirements, the loss of one or more significant customers, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely completion of capital projects, the success of the Company's efforts to access capital markets on satisfactory terms, and to acquire, integrate, and operate new businesses and expand into new markets, as well as other risks detailed in Exhibit 99 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2001 and from time to time in the Company's other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.