Pactiv Evergreen Inc. [PTVE] Filings

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023

OR

Commission File Number 001-39528

PACTIV EVERGREEN INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (847) 482-2000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

d

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☒

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the Registrant, based on the closing price of the shares of common stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market on June 30, 2023, was $301,604,107.

The number of shares of Registrant’s Common Stock outstanding as of February 23, 2024 was 178,557,086.

Pactiv Evergreen Inc.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTORS SUMMARY

This report contains certain statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue,” the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future financial performance, our anticipated growth strategies, anticipated trends in our business and anticipated growth in the markets served by our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those factors discussed under the caption entitled “Risk Factors.” You should specifically consider the numerous risks outlined under “Risk Factors.” These risks include, among others, those related to:

Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. We undertake no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this report to conform our prior statements to actual results or revised expectations.

PART I

Item 1. Business

General

Pactiv Evergreen is a leading manufacturer and distributor of fresh foodservice and food merchandising products and fresh beverage cartons in North America. We produce a broad range of products that protect, package and display fresh food and beverages for consumers who want to eat or drink fresh, prepared or ready-to-eat food and beverages conveniently and with confidence. We supply our products to a broad and diversified mix of companies, including full service restaurants (also referred to as FSRs), quick service restaurants (also referred to as QSRs), foodservice distributors, supermarkets, grocery and healthy eating retailers, other food stores, food and beverage producers and food processors. We operate primarily in North America.

Segment Overview

We manufacture and sell products through the following two reportable segments:

The pie charts below show the breakdown of our net external revenues from continuing operations for fiscal years 2023, 2022 and 2021 by our segments.

(1) Other represents residual businesses that do not represent a reportable segment.

The pie charts below show the breakdown of our net revenues from continuing operations for fiscal years 2023, 2022 and 2021 by our products.

Beverage Merchandising Restructuring

In the second quarter of 2023, we combined our legacy Food Merchandising and Beverage Merchandising segments to create our current Food and Beverage Merchandising segment. At the same time, we also reorganized the management of certain product lines from our Foodservice segment to our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment. All information presented in this report as to prior periods has been recast to reflect the current reportable segment structure and the change in the management of certain product lines.

This change in segments occurred as part of a broader restructuring of our legacy Beverage Merchandising segment, which we refer to as the Beverage Merchandising Restructuring. This restructuring involved, among other things:

For additional information related to the Beverage Merchandising Restructuring, refer to Note 4, Restructuring, Asset Impairment and Other Related Charges, to the consolidated financial statements and to Recent Developments and Significant Items Affecting Comparability – Beverage Merchandising Restructuring within Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Strategic Initiatives

Our strategic initiatives are grouped into five key areas: people; profitable growth; social responsibility; operational excellence; and enterprise optimization.

We rigorously track and measure the progress and results of our initiatives. We are focused on long-term planning and goal-setting strategies as well as our near-term operating results. We believe our strategic initiatives help drive our revenue growth and improve our margins.

Where appropriate, we also seek to grow our business with targeted acquisitions that enable us to achieve our strategic goals. For example, in 2021, we acquired Fabri-Kal, a manufacturer of thermoformed plastic packaging products whose products include food containers and drinkware (cold cups and lids) for the institutional foodservice and consumer packaged goods markets. The acquisition included four manufacturing facilities in the United States. For additional details, refer to Note 3, Acquisitions and Dispositions, to the consolidated financial statements.

Over the last several years, we have focused our business on our core, business-to-business North American foodservice and food and beverage merchandising operations. Before and after our IPO in September 2020, we divested certain of our non-core businesses, and may do so in the future. For example, in 2022, we sold our 50% interest in a joint venture with Naturepak Limited, which is a leading provider of fresh liquid carton and packaging systems in the Middle East and North Africa region, and our carton packaging and filling machinery businesses in China, Korea and Taiwan. In addition, we divested our remaining closures businesses during the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. In 2023, we also took significant restructuring actions related to our Beverage Merchandising operations. For information on divestitures undertaken before our IPO, please refer to the “Corporate Information” section below. For details on divestitures and distributions of certain operations that impacted our results, refer to Note 3, Acquisitions and Dispositions, and Note 4, Restructuring, Asset Impairment and Other Related Charges, to the consolidated financial statements.

Customers

We supply our products to a broad and diversified mix of companies, including FSRs, QSRs, foodservice distributors, supermarkets, grocery and healthy eating retailers, other food stores, food and beverage producers, food packers and food processors. Our customers range from large blue-chip multinational companies to national and regional companies to small local businesses. We have developed strong and longstanding relationships with our customers, including many leading restaurants and brands. In 2023, one customer in our Foodservice segment accounted for sales representing approximately 10% of our consolidated net revenues. No single customer accounted for more than 10% of our consolidated net revenues in 2022 or 2021. Our ten largest customers accounted for 42% of net revenues in 2023.

Seasonality

Our business does not experience high seasonality due to the complementary nature of the seasonal effects on our segments, though portions of our business are moderately seasonal. Our Foodservice operations and the food merchandising operations of our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment peak during the summer and fall months in North America when the favorable weather and harvest and holiday seasons lead to increased consumption, resulting in greater levels of sales in the second and third quarters. The customers of the beverage merchandising operations of our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment are principally engaged in providing products that are generally less sensitive to seasonal effects, although they do experience some seasonality as a result of increased consumption of milk by school children during the North American academic year, resulting in a greater level of carton product sales in the first and fourth quarters.

Competition

The markets in which we sell our products historically have been, and continue to be, highly competitive. Areas of competition include service, innovation, quality, sustainability and price. While we have long-term relationships with many of our customers, the underlying

contracts may be re-bid or renegotiated from time to time, and we may not be successful in renewing on favorable terms or at all, as pricing and other competitive pressures may occasionally result in the loss of a customer relationship.

Distribution and Marketing

We have a large, well-invested manufacturing base and a hub-and-spoke distribution network in the United States and in the international geographies in which we operate. Most of our assets are in the United States, which allows us to provide an extensive offering of U.S.-manufactured products to our customers. We believe our manufacturing footprint and distribution network provide us a competitive advantage in each of our segments. Our Foodservice segment is the only manufacturer among its competitors in the United States with an extensive nationwide hub-and-spoke distribution network, enabling customers to buy across our entire product offering. The food merchandising operation of our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment is a low cost U.S. manufacturer with well-invested facilities within close proximity to our customer base. We have an unrivalled product offering in the North American foodservice and food merchandising markets and a “one-face-to-the-customer” service model. This service model uses one sales representative per account to produce one order with multiple SKUs supported by one customer service representative who is responsible for one shipment with one invoice. We believe that the beverage merchandising operation of our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment is uniquely positioned in the United States as the only producer that manufactures fresh beverage cartons, filling machinery and liquid packaging board, which we believe positions us as a low cost solution with excellent customer service.

We have made manufacturing flexibility a priority in our investment of capital. We are able to offer substrates and product lines to match changing market needs efficiently and at low cost. This enables us to scale production in response to the requirements of our customers and trends in the market, including for example, increasing our use of recycled and recyclable material to produce a greater number of sustainable products. We have strategically invested in flexible manufacturing assets that can be quickly converted to produce alternative products. Our broad manufacturing base includes approximately 1,100 production lines.

As of December 31, 2023, our Foodservice segment has 23 manufacturing plants, and our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment has 28 manufacturing plants, including 5 U.S. beverage carton manufacturing plants. Both segments share the use of 34 warehouses and 8 regional mixing centers. Food and Beverage Merchandising also has 2 extrusion plants, 1 filling machinery plant, 1 integrated liquid packaging board mill and 1 chip mill. Each of our manufacturing plants is managed by a manufacturing director, and we use lean operating practices and information systems to measure performance against objective metrics and to optimize manufacturing efficiency and reduce cost.

Raw Materials

The primary raw materials used to manufacture our products are plastic resins, fiber (principally raw wood, wood chips and recycled newsprint) and paperboard (principally cartonboard and cupstock). We also use commodity chemicals, steel and energy, including fuel oil, electricity, natural gas and coal, to manufacture our products. We purchase most of our raw materials based on negotiated rates with suppliers, which are tied to published indices. Typically, we do not enter into long-term purchase contracts that provide for fixed quantities or prices for our principal raw materials. Most of our raw materials and other input costs are purchased on the spot market.

Resin prices have historically fluctuated based on changes in supply and demand and influenced by the prices of crude oil and monomers, which may be impacted by extreme weather conditions and the demand for other end uses. The prices of raw wood and wood chips may fluctuate due to external conditions such as weather, product scarcity, commodity market fluctuations and changes in governmental policies and regulations. Tariffs, trade sanctions and other disruptions in international commerce can also affect the cost of our raw materials.

We mitigate the impact of increased commodity costs principally through higher product pricing, manufacturing and overhead cost control and hedging arrangements. Many of the customer pricing agreements that our segments enter into contain raw material cost pass-through mechanisms that adjust prices to reflect the impact of changes in raw material costs. Generally, the contractual price adjustments do not occur simultaneously with commodity price fluctuations, but rather on a mutually agreed upon schedule, which often causes a lead-lag effect, during which margins are negatively impacted in the short term when raw material costs increase and positively impacted in the short term when raw material costs decrease. The average lag time in implementing raw material cost pass-through mechanisms is approximately three months. From time to time, we may also use hedging techniques to limit the impact of fluctuations in the cost of our principal raw materials, but we do not fully hedge against commodity cost changes, and our hedging strategies may not protect us from increases in specific raw material costs.

At this time, we believe there will continue to be an adequate supply of the raw materials we use and that they will generally remain available from numerous sources.

For additional information on our commodity costs, refer to Financial Outlook – Raw Materials and Energy Prices within Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Intellectual Property and Research and Development

We have a proven history of product innovation, including the introduction of new products and the addition of innovative features to existing products. Innovation is a core capability we are proud of and a key focus area going forward as we strive to enhance our product portfolio, drive growth and increase margins.

We have significant intellectual property and proprietary know-how. As of December 31, 2023, we held approximately 300 patents related to product design, utility and material formulations.

Our primary focus areas for product innovation are developing packaging with useful new features, engineering new materials that improve the performance of our products and commercializing new environmentally-friendly packaging. Both consumer preferences and customer requirements continually evolve, and we strive to develop useful new features and products to meet those needs. Through our longstanding customer relationships, we gain valuable insight into our customers’ needs and are able to identify, engineer and develop optimal products for them. Functionality, quality, material savings, brand marketing, sustainability and safety are key drivers in our product development. Examples of our product innovations include reclosable beverage cartons, strawless lids, compostable plates and recycled polyethylene terephthalate “PET” containers.

In our Foodservice segment, our product innovation initiatives are focused on developing new products made from sustainable materials. In our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment, our food product innovation is focused on rapidly growing emerging companies for whom packaging helps deliver their brand, and we have developed a variety of carton designs to help beverage manufacturers differentiate their products and generate stronger brand recognition. Our barrier board technology allows our customers to achieve longer shelf life for their products while protecting against the loss of vitamins and other nutrients.

In 2023, 2022 and 2021, we spent a total of $45 million, $33 million and $22 million, respectively, on research and development efforts. We have dedicated technology and innovation facilities, and we employ personnel focused on product development, material innovation and process improvement. Our material science expertise and state-of-the-art product design and testing capabilities enable us to engineer high-performing materials and create new and innovative products to meet the requirements of our customers and the preferences of consumers as well as to increase food safety. We use our material science expertise to focus on sustainability, performance and material savings. We have industry-leading innovation centers where, among other things, we develop innovative resin blending and compounding formulations and processes and new engineered materials using paper/fiber substrates, which have on-site design, testing, prototyping and production capabilities. These unique material and product design capabilities allow us to partner with our customers to rapidly develop and commercialize new and innovative solutions that further increase the value we provide our customers.

Regulation

Our business is subject to regulations governing products that may contact food in all the countries in which we have operations. Future regulatory and legislative changes can affect the economics of our business activities, lead to changes in operating practices, affect our customers and influence the demand for and the cost of providing products and services to our customers. We have implemented compliance programs and procedures designed to achieve compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and believe these programs and procedures are generally effective. Our production facilities are independently audited for adherence to good manufacturing practices. As of December 31, 2023, 31 of our manufacturing facilities have achieved British Retail Consortium certification for meeting globally-recognized standards related to food safety and quality, and another five manufacturing facilities have received Safe Quality Food certification. Our extrusion plant and three additional manufacturing facilities are certified in accordance with FSSC 22000, another food safety certification scheme. The remaining sites—our paper mill, nine manufacturing and ten warehouse facilities—are certified following food safety and supplier assurance audits conducted by the National Sanitation Foundation.

We are also subject to various federal, state, local and foreign environmental, health and safety laws, regulations and permits. Among other things, these requirements regulate the emission or discharge of materials into the environment, govern the use, storage, treatment, disposal and management of hazardous substances and wastes, protect the health and safety of our employees, regulate the materials used in and the recycling of our products and impose liability, which can be strict, joint and several, for the costs of investigating and remediating, and damages resulting from, present and past releases of hazardous substances related to our current and former sites, as well as at third party sites where we or our predecessors have sent hazardous waste for disposal. Many of our manufacturing facilities require environmental permits, such as those limiting air and water emissions. Compliance with these permits can require capital investment and, in some cases, could limit production.

In addition, a number of governmental authorities, both in the United States and abroad, have considered, and are expected to consider, legislation aimed at reducing the amount of plastic waste. For example, in 2022, California enacted the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, which, among other things, requires a 25% reduction of plastics in single-use products in the state by 2032 and escalating recycling, reuse or composting rates for single-use packaging, regardless of material, used in the state over time. Additional legislation of this type has included banning certain types of materials or products, mandating certain recycling rates and imposing fees or taxes on packaging material, which could increase our compliance costs and adversely affect our business.

Moreover, as environmental issues, such as climate change, have become more prevalent, governments have responded, and are expected to continue to respond, with increased legislation and regulation, which could negatively affect us. For example, the U.S. Congress has

in the past considered legislation to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency regulates certain greenhouse gas emissions under existing laws such as the Clean Air Act. A number of states and local governments in the United States have also implemented, or announced their intentions to implement, their own programs to reduce greenhouse gases, most notably California. These initiatives may cause us to incur additional direct costs in complying with any new environmental legislation or regulations, such as costs to upgrade or replace equipment, as well as increased indirect costs that could get passed through to us resulting from our suppliers and customers also incurring additional compliance costs.

We have programs across our businesses to ensure we remain in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. For a more detailed description of the various laws and regulations that affect our business, refer to the “Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Risks” section in Item 1A, Risk Factors.

Environmental, Social and Governance

Aligning purpose and performance creates value for companies, their employees and the community. Our efforts across the Company around Environmental, Social and Governance matters support both our Profitable Growth and Social Responsibility Key Strategic Initiatives.

Environmental

Sustainable Products

We offer products that deliver safe, fresh and convenient food and beverages. Our products help reduce food waste by protecting foods and beverages during transport, extending product shelf life and reducing the threat of contamination. Safety and convenience continue to be important as on-the-go consumption and delivery of foods and beverages drive growth in the industry.

We continue to grow our offering of sustainable products with new, plant-based bio-resin and fiber-based offerings. Today, we provide customers sustainable alternatives across nearly all our products and categories. We offer products made from seven different types of sustainable substrates and nearly all are made in North America. We believe our EarthChoice® brand is the largest brand of sustainable foodservice packaging in North America, with each product meeting at least one of our “Four Rs” of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or Renew. Our Greenware® and Recycleware® brands complement our sustainable offerings, being made with renewable and recycled content materials, respectively.

Through our state-of-the-art production technology and material science expertise, we can develop new value-add and sustainable solutions. We believe we are well positioned to benefit from changing consumer preferences for more environmentally sustainable products. Our goal is that 100% of the packaging products we sell will be made from recycled, recyclable or renewable materials by 2030, based on associated net revenue. In 2023, we reached approximately 66% of that goal.

In addition, many of our customers have publicly-stated goals to increase the use of sustainable products. A significant portion of our new product and material innovations is geared toward developing sustainable products for our customers, with over 100 new items launched since 2020. As customers look to switch to more sustainable alternatives, we are well-positioned to quickly and effectively support them, thanks to our teams of material scientists and engineers. With a high percentage of our net revenues coming from products that are made from sustainable materials, we are helping our customers achieve their own sustainability goals. As of December 31, 2023, seven of our Pactiv Evergreen facilities have earned International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (“ISCC”) PLUS certifications, which allow us to track and verify certain recycled and/or renewable feedstocks.

In addition to using recyclable and compostable materials, we support efforts to expand opportunities for consumers to recycle or compost our products, notably as one of the founding members of the Carton Council, Paper Recovery Alliance, Plastics Recovery Group, Foam Recycling Coalition and the Paper Cup Alliance. We have demonstrated our commitment to use more recycled plastic by participating in the Association for Plastic Recyclers’ Demand Champions program. We engage with the composting industry through the U.S. Composting Council, and a growing number of our products are certified compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute and/or the Compost Manufacturing Alliance. We are a longstanding member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, an industry working group aligned with our purpose: Packaging A Better Future.

Sustainable Operations

Our dedication to the environment goes beyond just the products we manufacture. Within our operations, we are working to limit our impact by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption, optimizing water use and decreasing waste going to landfills. We have committed to the Science Based Targets initiative to establish near- and long-term company-wide greenhouse gas emission reduction goals in line with the Paris Agreement.

Improving energy efficiency is critical to us as energy expenses represent a significant operating cost. We are also looking to use more renewable energy, which further reduces our greenhouse gas emissions. Almost half of our annual energy consumption comes from renewable sources.

Efforts to minimize our water usage take various forms, given the variety of our operations. We primarily use water for process operations, cooling and cleaning. Most of our water use is “non-consumptive use,” which means the water is treated and returned back

to the environment after being used in our operations. We use data from the Water Resources Institute to analyze water basin conditions for each of our facilities. This annual process allows us to identify water-related risks and prioritize performance improvement measures. According to our most recent assessment, while 12% of our facilities are located in medium-high to high water risk areas, approximately 99% of our water intake occurs in low or low-medium water risk areas.

Reducing waste in our operations is an ongoing, company-wide pursuit. We reuse a significant majority of plastic and paper scrap to manufacture our own products and implement programs to reduce scrap in production as much as possible. The plastic or paper scrap that cannot be reused in the manufacturing process is recycled by third parties where possible. As of December 31, 2023, all of our U.S. plastics converting facilities had also made the Operations Clean Sweep pledge, a program aiming to keep plastic pellets out of the environment by reducing pellet, flake and powder loss from the plastics manufacturing process. Our applicable facilities in Canada and Mexico also made similar pledges to industry organizations in those countries.

Protecting the sustainability of our forests is a critical initiative, given our broad use of paper through our product offerings. The paper and paperboard purchased from our U.S. paper suppliers are certified to meet internationally-recognized fiber sourcing standards.

Additionally, our North American paper production facilities have chain-of-custody certifications from independent, third-party certifiers. In recent years, we have continually increased the amount of fiber we procure from these certified sources. We met our goal to have 100% of our applicable facilities in North America be chain of custody certified. In 2022, over 98% of our procured virgin fiber met third-party fiber sourcing or controlled wood standards, progressing on our targets to have 100% of our procured virgin fiber meet these standards by 2025. Additionally, we published an updated sustainable forestry policy as well as our Net Zero Deforestation Commitment, which can be found on our investor relations website at https://investors.pactivevergreen.com/esg-documents.

References to our website address do not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on the website, and the information contained on the website is not part of this document.

Social and Human Capital Resources

Our most valuable asset is our people, and our human capital management is evolving to meet the changing needs of today’s workforce.

As of December 31, 2023, we employed approximately 15,000 people globally. We believe in supporting and empowering our employees through recognition, health and welfare benefits offerings, development opportunities and fair compensation. Approximately 25% of our employees were represented by labor unions as of December 31, 2023. Our operations are subject to various local, national and multinational laws and regulations relating to our relationships with our employees. We are a party to numerous collective bargaining agreements, and we endeavor to renegotiate these collective bargaining agreements on satisfactory terms when they expire.

Workforce Health and Safety

Safety is a core value and affects everything we do. In 2023, we had a total recordable incidence rate of 1.02 compared to the industry average of 3.0, a total lost time restricted time rate of 0.37 compared to the industry average of 2.1 and a total lost workday rate of 0.64 compared to an industry average of 1.1.

Corporate Culture

Our purpose, mission and values represent the principles we honor, the promises we keep and the foundational beliefs we share. They communicate what our customers and shareholders can expect from us and what we can expect of each other. As we grow our brand, we are also mindful of the need to continue building on this values-based leadership. We continue to prioritize building corporate culture around our purpose of Packaging A Better Future and our values to Celebrate People, Do What’s Right, Win Together, Demand Excellence and Own It, including the creation of a Talent & Culture team. We believe our values-driven and people-centric culture supports diversity, innovative thinking, decisiveness and leadership skills — qualities that are essential in our fast-paced environment. We focus on promoting from within for rewarding careers and long-term growth. We know that we can support our employees in many ways: in 2023, we launched a new parental leave policy for U.S.-based salaried employees and strengthened our leadership development programs. We also launched our inaugural Employee Engagement Survey, seeking to gain insights into how our employees feel about working for Pactiv Evergreen and to identify opportunities for improvement.

In 2021, we launched the Pactiv Evergreen Give Back program, an annual initiative to reward employees and their families for living our values by supporting the communities where we live and work. As a food and beverage packaging company, we believe that we are uniquely equipped to inspire action and support those in need, especially when it comes to food insecurity. In 2023, our Give Back Month of Action supported numerous non-profits through over 100 volunteer events, donating approximately 6,000 hours of volunteer service and collecting nearly 300,000 pounds of non-perishable food items for local pantries. Our Give Back grants also support our employees and the causes important to them. We believe that the success of our Give Back program reflects our employees’ commitment to living our values and making a positive impact in our communities.

Diversity, Inclusion and Talent Development

We focus on attracting and retaining a diverse workforce, and we are committed to being transparent when it comes to diversity. In 2023, we released metrics related to the ethnic background and diversity in leadership of our U.S.-based employees, which represented

approximately 86% of our total workforce as of December 31, 2023. Also as of December 31, 2023, approximately 57% of our U.S.-based employees were Black, Indigenous or People of Color, including 23% of those in our senior or mid-level leadership positions. In addition, 30% of our employees were women, including 25% of those in our senior or mid-level leadership positions. In 2023, we were proud to be named a Military Times Best for Vets Employer for a second year in a row, reflecting our commitment to supporting veterans at all phases of recruitment, employment and retention.

Our diversity, equity and inclusion principles are also reflected in our employee training and policies. Diversity, equity and inclusion are embedded into our leadership development courses.

We support the success and growth of our employees through in-depth onboarding training and ongoing development opportunities throughout their careers. In November 2022, we launched two new Leadership Development programs for front line and mid-level leaders. Of more than 900 leaders from across the business, over 800 had completed this course as of the end of 2023. A third program was launched for senior manager and director-level employees with 20 leaders who were nominated by senior executives for this program. We are also testing a standardized hourly operator certification program to support our skilled team members in their career progression.

Governance

The composition of our seven-member Board of Directors includes three women, one of whom is Hispanic. Ms. LeighAnne Baker is our first female Board Chair. Ms. Baker has been an independent member of our Board since our initial public offering, and we are grateful to benefit from her leadership and experience. Our full Board of Directors continues to provide direct oversight over environmental, social and governance, or ESG, issues and corporate sustainability initiatives.

In 2023, we also conducted our ESG materiality assessment, published our first ESG report based on the Global Reporting Institute index and informed by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board standards and publicly reported to CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) on climate, forestry and water security. We received third-party limited assurance on Scope 1 and Scope 2 (location-based) emissions, energy consumed for Scope 1 and 2 (location-based) emissions and energy intensity for Scope 1 and Scope 2 (location-based) emissions.

Policies and ongoing reporting on ESG initiatives and performance can be found on our investor relations website at https://investors.pactivevergreen.com/esg-documents and will be provided, free of charge, to any shareholder who requests a copy.

References to our website address do not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on the website, and the information contained on the website is not part of this document.

Corporate Information

We were incorporated on May 30, 2006 as Reynolds Group Holdings Limited under New Zealand’s Companies Act 1993. On September 11, 2020, we converted into a Delaware corporation and changed our name to Pactiv Evergreen Inc. On September 21, 2020, we completed our IPO.

Prior to our IPO, we divested certain of our former business operations and segments as part of our consolidation into our core, business-to-business North American foodservice, food merchandising and beverage merchandising operations. In 2019, we sold our North American and Japanese closures businesses. In February 2020, we distributed all of our ownership of Reynolds Consumer Products Inc., which we refer to as RCP and which produces several consumer-facing brands of cooking products, waste and storage products and tableware, to Packaging Finance Limited, our parent company. In September 2020, we distributed to Packaging Finance Limited all of our ownership of Graham Packaging Company Inc., which we refer to as Graham Packaging or GPC and which designs and manufactures value-added, custom blow mold plastic containers for branded consumer products. For details on divestitures and distributions of certain operations that impacted our results, refer to Note 3, Acquisitions and Dispositions, to the consolidated financial statements.

Available Information

Our Internet address is www.pactivevergreen.com. We make our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports available free of charge on our investor relations website at https://investors.pactivevergreen.com/financial-information/sec-filings as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with, or furnish them to, the SEC. We may from time to time provide important disclosures to investors by posting them on our investor relations website, as allowed by SEC rules, but no information on our website is incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other filings we make with the SEC. We intend to use our website as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor our website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

You should carefully read the following discussion of significant factors, events and uncertainties when evaluating our business and the forward-looking information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations section and the consolidated financial statements and related notes. The events and consequences discussed in these risk factors could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results, liquidity and financial condition. While we believe we have identified and discussed below all material risk factors affecting our business, these risk factors do not identify all the risks we face, and there may be additional risks and uncertainties that we do not presently know or that we do not currently believe to be significant that may have a material adverse effect on our business, performance or financial condition in the future.

Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry

Fluctuations in raw material, energy and freight costs impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Raw materials, energy and freight are critical inputs to our business, and make up a substantial portion of our cost of sales. We strive to minimize the extent to which the volatility in the prices of these inputs affects our business. However, as described in greater detail below, these efforts are imperfect and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to mitigate the negative impacts on our business of that volatility. For example, during 2021 and 2022, we experienced substantial, broad-based volatility in the prices for these inputs to our business that were greater than we had experienced in the recent past, which meaningfully impacted our results of operations in those years.

The primary raw materials used in our products are plastic resins (principally polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene and polylactic acid), fiber (principally raw wood, wood chips and recycled newsprint) and paperboard (principally cartonboard and cupstock). Changes in the prices of raw materials are generally due to movements in commodity market prices, although some raw materials, such as wood, may be affected by local market conditions (including weather) as well as the commodity market. These conditions can be affected by broader macroeconomic trends, such as the macroeconomic disruptions resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the elevated levels of inflation experienced beginning in the second half of 2021. For more information on the impact of macroeconomic trends on our business, please refer to the risk factor under the caption “Our business is subject to risks related to global economic conditions, including inflation and interest rates, consumer demand, global supply chain challenges and other macroeconomic issues that could have an adverse effect on our business and financial performance.”

We typically do not enter into long-term purchase contracts that provide for fixed prices for our principal raw materials. While we enter into hedging agreements from time to time for some of our raw materials and energy sources, such as resin (or components thereof) and natural gas, to minimize the impact of such fluctuations, these hedging agreements do not cover all of our needs, hedging may reduce the positive impact we may otherwise receive when raw material prices decline and hedging arrangements may not always be available at commercially reasonable rates or at all, as is the case with our supply of energy in California, for example.

In addition, over the last several years, there has been a trend toward consolidation among suppliers of many of our principal raw materials, and we expect that this trend may continue. Consolidation among our key suppliers could enhance their ability to increase prices, forcing us to pay more for such raw materials, purchased either directly from these existing suppliers or from costlier alternative suppliers. We may be unable to pass on such cost increases to customers which could result in lower margins or lost sales. Consolidation among our suppliers also increases our vulnerability to catastrophic events impacting particular geographic regions. For more information, please refer to the risk factor “Natural disasters, public health crises and other catastrophic events outside of our control could damage our facilities or the facilities of third parties on which we depend, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.”

Although many of our customer pricing agreements include raw material cost pass-through mechanisms, which mitigate the impact of changes in raw material costs, not all of them do. For those that do, the contractual price changes do not occur simultaneously with raw material price changes. Due to this contractual delay, as well as differences in timing between purchases of raw materials and sales to customers, there is often a lead-lag effect during which margins are negatively impacted in periods of rising raw material costs and positively impacted in periods of falling raw material costs. Moreover, many of our sales are not covered by such pass-through mechanisms. While we also use price increases, whenever possible, to mitigate the effect of raw material cost increases for customers that are not subject to raw material cost pass-through agreements, we may not be able to pass on cost increases to our customers on a timely basis, if at all, and consequently may not be able to recover the lost margin resulting from cost increases. Additionally, an increase in the selling prices for the products we produce resulting from a pass-through of increased raw material, energy or freight costs could adversely affect sales volumes.

In addition to our dependence on primary raw materials, we are also dependent on different sources of energy and other utilities for our operations, such as coal, fuel oil, electricity and natural gas. For example, our Beverage Merchandising segment is susceptible to price fluctuations in natural gas as it consumes significant amounts of natural gas to convert raw wood and wood chips to liquid packaging board. In addition, if some of our large energy contracts were to be terminated for any reason or not renewed upon expiration, or if market conditions were to substantially change resulting in a significant increase in the price of coal, fuel oil, electricity, natural gas or

other utilities, we may not be able to find alternative, comparable suppliers or suppliers capable of providing such energy and utilities on terms satisfactory to us. For instance, climate-related extreme weather conditions, such as hurricanes, flooding, droughts and deep freezes, have the potential to substantially change market conditions and increase prices for our energy and utilities. As a result of any of these events, our business, financial condition and operating results may suffer.

We are also dependent on third parties for the transportation of both our raw materials and other products that we purchase for our operations and the products that we sell to our customers. In certain jurisdictions, we are exposed to import duties and freight costs, the latter of which is influenced by carrier availability and the fluctuating costs of oil and other transportation costs. In recent years, the supply-chain disruptions that began during the coronavirus pandemic substantially increased our freight costs and the lead time associated with shipping our products, although these impacts moderated during 2022. Although some of our customer agreements include pass-through mechanisms for increased freight costs similar to the mechanisms for increases in raw materials costs, not all of our contracts contain these provisions, and those that do are subject to the same “lead-lag” effect described above.

Our business has substantial exposure to freight costs and freight-related disruptions, in particular domestic freight. We seek to reduce our exposure to freight-related disruptions through efforts to, among other things, reduce the need for transfer freight by producing the right product in the right place, increase warehouse automation and efficiency and decrease interdependencies. However, we may not be successful, and if we are not, our business would be negatively affected.

Governmental actions, like tariffs and trade sanctions, also impact the cost of raw materials and other goods and services that our business uses. For example, U.S. tariffs on products imported from certain countries and trade sanctions against certain countries, including on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, have impacted the cost of certain raw materials, including resin, and other goods and services required to operate our business. Major developments in trade relations, including the imposition of new or strengthened tariffs or sanctions by the United States and other countries, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we fail to maintain satisfactory relationships with our major customers, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

Many of our customers are large and have significant market leverage, which could result in downward pricing pressure that constrains our ability to achieve favorable pricing terms. We sell most of our products under multi-year agreements with customers. Some of these agreements may be terminated at the customer’s convenience on short notice. In other cases, we sell products on a purchase-order basis without any commitment from the customers to purchase any quantity of products in the future.

Our relationships with our customers depend on numerous factors, including, among others, our ability to provide high-quality products at attractive prices, and our ability to meet their requirements in a timely manner. In order to meet customer requirements, we must have adequate inventory supply, which often requires accurately forecasting customer demand and, in many cases, building inventory sufficiently in advance. These forecasts are based on our estimates, and those of our customers, of future demand for our products. Our ability to accurately forecast demand in the future could be affected by many factors, including changes in customer demand for our products, the ability of our customers to provide reliable forecasts of demand, changes in demand for the products of competitors, unanticipated changes in general market or macroeconomic conditions and changes in economic conditions or customer confidence in future economic conditions. For example, as a result of forecasting inaccuracies and a lack of inventory build during the summer of 2023, there was a shortage of school milk cartons in the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year in North America that resulted in unmet market demand and increased costs. Any such failure to accurately forecast our customers’ needs may result in unmet demand, manufacturing delays, increased costs, reputational risk and adverse impacts to customer relationships. If the forecasts used to manage inventory are not accurate, we may experience a shortage of available products, excess inventory levels or reduced manufacturing efficiencies. Further, a deterioration in the strength of our customer relationships could cause our major customers to reduce purchasing volumes or stop purchasing our products, or could cause us to lose customers in the future. Any of these events could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

In addition, over the last several years, there has been a trend toward consolidation among our customers in the food and beverage industry and in the retail and foodservice industries, and we expect that this trend may continue. Consolidation among our customers could increase their ability to apply price pressure, and thereby force us to reduce our selling prices or lose sales, which would impact our results of operations. Following a consolidation, our customers in the food and beverage industry may also close production facilities or switch suppliers, while our customers in the retail industry may close stores, reduce inventory or switch suppliers of consumer products. Any of these actions could adversely impact the sales of our products.

In fiscal year 2023, one of our customers accounted for approximately 10% of our net revenues, and our top ten customers together accounted for approximately 42% of our net revenues. The loss or bankruptcy of any of our significant customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business is subject to risks related to global conditions, including inflation, consumer demand, global supply chain challenges and other macroeconomic and geopolitical issues that could have an adverse effect on our business and financial performance.

General economic downturns in our key geographic regions and globally can adversely affect our business operations, demand for our products and our financial results. The global economy, including credit and financial markets, has experienced extreme volatility and

disruptions, including higher interest rates, relatively high levels of inflation, strained supply chains and expectations of lower economic growth, which have put pressure on our business. Additionally, geopolitical volatility may also contribute to the general economic conditions and regulatory uncertainty in regions in which we operate.

For example, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the first quarter of 2022 and the resulting geopolitical responses increased the cost of many of the raw materials that we use and contributed to an aluminum scarcity that negatively affected our business. Similarly, the heightened inflationary environment in recent periods reduced consumer demand, which we believe reduced our volumes and negatively affected our ability to recover the heightened costs resulting from inflationary pressures. When challenging macroeconomic conditions such as these exist, our customers may delay, decrease or cancel purchases from us and may also delay payment or fail to pay us altogether. Suppliers may have difficulty filling our orders and distributors may have difficulty getting our products to customers, which may affect our ability to meet customer demands and result in a loss of business. Weakened global economic conditions may also result in unfavorable changes in our product prices and product mix and lower profit margins. Changes in policy, including as a result of the elections scheduled later this year in the United States and Mexico, the two countries in which we have the largest presence, could disrupt the markets we serve and the policies under which we operate. Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, the demand for our products, our financial condition and our results of operations.

We depend on a small number of suppliers for our raw materials and any interruption in our supply of raw materials would harm our business and financial performance.

Some of our key raw materials are sourced from a single supplier or a relatively small number of suppliers. For more information, please refer to the risk factor “Fluctuations in raw material, energy and freight costs impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.” As a consequence, we are dependent on these suppliers for an uninterrupted supply of our key raw materials. Such supply could be disrupted for a wide variety of reasons, many of which are beyond our control. We have written contracts with some but not all of our key suppliers, and many of our written contracts can be terminated on short notice or include force majeure clauses that would excuse the supplier’s failure to supply in certain circumstances. An interruption in the supply of raw materials for an extended period of time could have an adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

Labor shortages and increased labor costs have adversely affected our business and operations, and may continue to do so if we are not able to attract additional employees, retain existing employees and reduce the labor intensity of our business.

At times during the past three years, and in particular during the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, we experienced labor shortages that decreased production output in many of our plants, negatively impacting our business and operations. We believe that these shortages were attributable to a number of factors, including, among others, substantially increased employee absences due to coronavirus infections, rapid increases in prevailing wages, increased governmental support during the coronavirus pandemic and increased competition from other employers.

These labor shortages also contributed to an increase in our labor cost, which is one of the primary components in the cost of operating our business. Although many of our customer contracts allow us to pass on to our customers increases in certain raw materials, and increases in the broader consumer price index, we generally cannot directly pass on increased labor costs. Price increases tied to the consumer price index often compensate for labor cost increases in a normal wage environment, but this was not the case in some recent periods. As a result, compensating for heightened labor costs sometimes required additional negotiations for further price increases, with which we had mixed success, or increasing prices upon the renewal of a contract.

Although we noticed a marked increase in our ability to attract employees over the course of 2022 and 2023, we continue to experience heightened employee turnover, particularly among our newest employees. Our total rewards programs may not be lucrative enough to attract and retain the best talent, and the fixed shift schedules and manual labor required in many of our facilities could be less attractive than alternative employers’ positions. Increased turnover particularly affects our business, as the equipment required to operate our business is complicated and requires substantial training before an employee is at full productivity. As a result, we have experienced a decrease in employee productivity in certain of our plants, which has contributed to increasing our operating expenses.

To mitigate the impact of labor shortages on our business, we have increased our total reward offerings and provide referral, sign-on and retention bonuses, and have invested in improving the onboarding and training experience for our new hires. These measures are effective but increase our operating costs. We also dedicate a substantial portion of our regular capital expenditures to increasing automation and otherwise reducing the labor intensity of our business. However, these measures may not be successful, in which case our margins would be negatively affected. Additionally, if we increase product prices to cover increased labor costs, the higher prices could adversely affect sales volumes. If we are unable to successfully mitigate the adverse impacts of labor shortages, increased labor costs and employee turnover in our business, our operating expenses, growth and results of operations will continue to be negatively affected.

We may incur significant costs, experience short-term inefficiencies or be unable to realize expected long-term savings from the recently-announced Footprint Optimization, or any other business restructuring or reorganization.

On February 29, 2024, we announced a restructuring plan approved by our Board of Directors to optimize our manufacturing and warehouse footprint. We refer to these activities collectively as the Footprint Optimization. We determined to undertake the Footprint

Optimization because we believe that it will improve our operating efficiency. However, the successful completion of the Footprint Optimization, or any other business restructuring or reorganization, is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following:

We cannot assure you that we will be able to realize all, or any, of the expected benefits, or avoid greater than expected inefficiencies or costs, from the Footprint Optimization or any other business restructuring or reorganization that we may undertake. Any such failure would negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may lose the use of all or a portion of any of our key manufacturing facilities due to natural disasters, public health crises and other catastrophic events outside of our control, as well as periodic scheduled outages, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.

While we manufacture most of our products in a number of diversified facilities, a loss of the use of all or a portion of any of our key manufacturing facilities for any reason, including an accident, labor issues, weather conditions, pandemics, natural disasters, cybersecurity incidents, periodic scheduled outages and other catastrophic events and crises, could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations. Certain of our products are produced at only one facility, or at a small number of facilities, increasing the risks associated with a loss of use of such facilities. For example, following the closure of our mill in Canton, North Carolina in June 2023, all of the beverage packaging products produced by our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment depend on the liquid paper board produced by our mill in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Facilities may from time to time be impacted by adverse weather and other natural events, and the prolonged loss of a key manufacturing facility due to such events could have a material adverse effect on our business.

For instance, during February 2021, the Southern portion of the United States was impacted by Winter Storm Uri, which brought record low temperatures, snow and ice and resulted in power failures, hazardous road conditions, damage to property and death and injury to individuals in those states. During most of this weather event, we were unable to fully operate the Pine Bluff mill and some of our other plants and warehouses in Texas and Arkansas. Similarly, in the third quarter of 2021, Tropical Storm Fred caused substantial damage to our former Canton, North Carolina mill, and in the fourth quarter of 2022, during Winter Storm Elliott we were unable to fully operate certain of our facilities. In addition, certain of our equipment requires significant effort to maintain and repair, and prolonged downtime due to planned outages for maintenance, key equipment failure or loss could adversely affect our business.

We face similar risk in the case of certain third parties on which we depend. For example, we source most of our resin supply from the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Any natural disaster or other catastrophic event of the type referred to above, such as a hurricane, that negatively affects this region could disrupt our access to a critical input to our business, and we might not be able to obtain alternative supply on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, which would negatively affect our business and results of operations.

We have in the past, and may in the future, pursue acquisitions, divestitures, investments and other similar transactions, which could adversely affect our business.

In pursuing our business strategy, we routinely discuss and evaluate potential acquisitions, divestitures, investments and other similar transactions. We may seek to expand or complement our existing product offerings through the acquisition of or investment in attractive businesses rather than through internal development, such as our acquisition of Fabri-Kal in 2021. Or, conversely, we may seek to further concentrate our focus on our principal products and markets by divesting non-core businesses, as we did with the 2022 divestitures of operations outside of North America.

These transactions require significant management time and resources and have the potential to divert our attention from our ongoing business, and we may not manage them successfully. We may be required to make substantial investments of resources to support these transactions, and we cannot assure you that they will be successful.

The risks we face in pursuing these transactions include, among others:

Additionally, as a result of increased scrutiny by antitrust authorities, we may announce an acquisition or divestiture transaction that is challenged by such authorities, is ultimately not completed due to a failure to obtain antitrust or other related regulatory approvals or is subject to litigation by such authorities following its completion. Our failure to address these risks or other issues encountered in connection with our transactions could cause us to fail to realize the anticipated benefits of those transactions, cause us to incur unanticipated costs and liabilities and harm our business generally. Future transactions could also result in dilutive issuances of our equity securities; the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities or other expenses; or impairments of tangible or intangible assets, any of which could harm our results of operations, and the anticipated benefits of any transaction may not materialize.

We may not be able to achieve some or all of the benefits that we expect to achieve from our capital investment, restructuring and other cost savings programs.

We regularly review our business to identify opportunities to reduce our costs. When we identify such opportunities, we may develop a capital investment, restructuring or other cost savings program to attempt to capture those savings, such as our strategic capital investment program. For example, we direct substantial capital investment toward reducing the labor intensity of our manufacturing processes to control labor costs and reduce our vulnerability to labor shortages. We may not be able to realize some or all of the cost savings we expect to achieve in the future as a result of our capital investment, restructuring and other cost savings programs in the time frame we anticipate. A variety of factors could cause us not to realize some of the expected cost savings, including, among others, delays in the anticipated timing of activities related to our cost savings programs, lack of sustainability in cost savings over time, unexpected costs associated with implementing the programs or operating our business and lack of ability to eliminate duplicative back office overhead and redundant selling, general and administrative functions, obtain procurement related savings, rationalize our distribution and warehousing networks, rationalize manufacturing capacity and shift production to more economical facilities and avoid labor disruptions in connection with any integration, particularly in connection with any headcount reduction.

Our business could be harmed by changes in consumer lifestyle, eating habits, nutritional preferences and health-related, environmental or sustainability concerns of consumers, investors and government and non-governmental organizations.

Consumers use our products to eat and drink food and beverage products. Any reduction in consumer demand for those products as a result of lifestyle, environmental, nutritional or health considerations could have a significant impact on our customers and, as a result, on our financial condition and results of operations. This includes the demand for the products that we make, as well as demand for our customers’ products. For example, certain of our products are used for dairy and fresh juice. Sales of those products have generally declined over recent years, requiring us to find new markets for our products.

Additionally, there is increasing concern about the environmental impact of the manufacturing, shipping and use of single-use food packaging and foodservice products. For instance, in 2023, legislation was introduced in both houses of the U.S. Congress to ban single-use plastic foam products. Further, in 2022, California enacted the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, which, among other things, requires a 25% reduction of plastics in single-use products in the state by 2032 and escalating recycling, reuse or composting rates for single-use packaging, regardless of material, used in the state over time. Numerous other U.S. municipalities and states and certain other countries, including Canada, have also proposed or enacted legislation prohibiting or restricting the sale and use of certain foodservice products and requiring them to be replaced with recyclable or compostable alternatives. Several provinces in Canada, as well as states in the United States, have enacted legislation imposing fees or other costs on manufacturers and other suppliers of single-use food packaging and foodservice products to encourage and fund recycling of those products.

Customers’, investors’, governments’ and non-governmental organizations’ concerns about product stewardship and resource sustainability, including product recycling, product packaging and restrictions on the use of potentially harmful materials, have received increased attention in recent years and are likely to play an increasing role in brand management and consumer purchasing decisions. In addition, changes in consumer lifestyle may decrease demand for certain of our products. Our financial position and results of operations might be adversely affected if environmental or sustainability concerns, restrictions on single-use packaging and products or changes in consumer lifestyle reduce demand for, or increase the costs of producing, our products.

If we are unable to develop new products or stay abreast of changing technology in our industry, our profits may decline.

We operate in mature markets that are subject to high levels of competition. Our future performance and growth depends on innovation and our ability to successfully develop or license capabilities to introduce new products and product innovations or enter into or expand into adjacent product categories, sales channels or countries. Our ability to quickly innovate in order to adapt our products to meet changing legal requirements and customer demands is essential. The development and introduction of new products require substantial and effective research and development and demand creation expenditures, which we may be unable to recoup if the new products do not gain widespread market acceptance.

In addition, we need effective and integrated systems to gather and use consumer data and information to successfully market our products. New product development and marketing efforts, including efforts to enter markets or develop product categories in which we have limited or no prior experience, have inherent risks, including product development or launch delays. These could result in our not being the first to market and the failure of new products to achieve anticipated levels of market acceptance. If product introductions or new or expanded adjacencies are not successful, costs associated with these efforts may not be fully recouped and our results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, if sales generated by new products cause a decline in sales of our existing products, our financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Even if we are successful in increasing market share within particular product categories, a decline in the markets for such product categories could have a negative impact on our financial results.

Certain aspects of our business are subject to changes in technology, and if we fail to anticipate or respond adequately to such changes, or do not have sufficient capital to invest in these developments, our profits may decline. Our future financial performance will depend in part upon our ability to develop new products and to implement and use technology successfully to improve our business operations. We cannot predict all the effects of future technological changes. The cost of implementing new technologies could be significant, and our ability to potentially finance these technological developments may be adversely affected by our debt servicing requirements or our inability to obtain the financing we require to develop or acquire competing technologies.

We operate in highly competitive markets.

We operate in highly competitive markets. Some of our competitors have significantly higher market shares in select product lines than we do globally or in the geographic markets in which we compete. Other competitors offer a more specialized variety of materials and concepts in select product lines and may serve more geographic regions through various distribution channels. Still others may have lower costs or greater financial and other resources than we do and may be less adversely affected than we are by price declines or by increases in raw material costs or otherwise may be better able to withstand adverse economic or market conditions.

In addition to existing competitors, we also face the threat of competition from new entrants to our markets. To the extent there are new entrants, increasing or even maintaining our market shares or margins may be more difficult. In addition to other suppliers of similar products, our business also faces competition from products made from other substrates. The prices that we can charge for our products are therefore constrained by the availability and cost of substitutes.

In addition, we are subject to the risk that competitors following lower social responsibility standards may enter the market with lower compliance, labor and other costs than ours, and we may not be able to compete with such companies for the most price-conscious customers.

The combination of these market influences has created a competitive environment in which product pricing (including volume rebates and other items impacting net pricing), quality, sustainability and service are key competitive factors. Our customers continuously evaluate their suppliers, often resulting in increased pressure to continuously introduce and commercialize innovative new products, improve quality and customer service and maintain strong relationships with our customers, and in the future could result in downward pricing pressure. We may lose customers in the future, which would adversely affect our business and results of operations. These competitive pressures could result in reduced net revenues and profitability, limit our ability to recover cost increases through price increases and, unless we are able to control our operating costs, adversely affect our gross margin.

Unsatisfactory safety performance may subject us to regulatory penalties, civil litigation or criminal prosecution, increase our insurance premiums, result in higher operating costs, negatively impact employee morale, result in higher employee turnover and damage our reputation.

We manufacture our products at a wide variety of industrial sites that present certain occupational hazards that, even with proper safety precautions, can lead to injury, loss of life, damage to or destruction of property, plant and equipment and environmental damage. We have in the past, and may in the future, experience serious accidents, including fatal injuries and fires. Any such incident could subject us to regulatory penalties, civil litigation, criminal prosecution, an increase in our insurance premiums or an increase in our operating expenses. These incidents could also negatively impact employee morale, result in higher employee turnover and damage our reputation. In addition, the labor shortages we have recently experienced have caused us to employ a disproportionate number of inexperienced employees who may be more susceptible to sustaining workplace injuries.

Employee slowdowns, strikes and similar actions could adversely affect our business and operations.

As of December 31, 2023, approximately 25% of our employees were subject to collective bargaining agreements. Our business relies heavily on workers who are members of labor unions to manufacture our products. In many cases, before we take significant actions with respect to our production facilities, such as workforce reductions or closures, we must reach an agreement with applicable labor unions. For example, our employees at certain facilities that may be impacted by the Footprint Optimization are represented by labor unions, and successfully completing the Footprint Optimization could involve negotiating agreements with those labor unions. For more information, please refer to the risk factor “We may incur significant costs, experience short-term inefficiencies or be unable to realize expected long-term savings from the recently-announced Footprint Optimization, or any other business restructuring or reorganization.” We may not be able to successfully negotiate any such agreements or new collective bargaining agreements in the future on satisfactory terms or at all. If we are not able to maintain satisfactory relationships with our employees and their representatives, or if prolonged labor disputes, slowdowns, strikes or similar actions occur, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Loss of our key management and other personnel or an inability to attract new management and other personnel could impact our business.

We depend on our senior executive officers and other key personnel to operate our business and on our in-house technical experts to develop new products and technologies and to service our customers. Although we have employment agreements with certain of our executives, the agreements have no specific duration and all of our executives are at-will employees. As a result, they may terminate their employment relationship with us at any time, and we cannot ensure that we will be able to retain their services. Our senior management’s knowledge of our business and industry would be difficult to replace, and the loss of any of these executives or other key personnel could adversely affect our operations.

Further, we have experienced management turnover in the recent past. For example, John McGrath served as our chief executive officer for six months after our IPO until his retirement and replacement by Michael King in early 2021. In mid-2021, John Rooney, the long-time president of our legacy Beverage Merchandising segment, left the company and was replaced by Byron Racki, who left the company in mid-2023. Furthermore, in May 2022, Michael Ragen, our chief financial officer since our IPO, left the company and was replaced by Jonathan Baksht.

Management transition is often difficult and inherently causes some loss of institutional knowledge and a learning curve for new executives, which could negatively affect our results of operations and financial condition. Our ability to execute our business strategies may be adversely affected by the uncertainty associated with any such transition, and the time and attention from the board and management needed to fill vacant roles and train new employees could disrupt our business. Competition is intense for qualified employees among companies that rely heavily on engineering and technology, and the loss of qualified employees or an inability to attract, retain and motivate additional highly skilled employees required for the operation and expansion of our business could hinder our ability to successfully conduct research and development activities or develop and support marketable products.

We are affected by seasonality and cyclicality.

Demand for certain of our products is moderately seasonal. Our Foodservice operations and the food merchandising operations of our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment peak during the summer and fall months in North America when the favorable weather and harvest and holiday seasons lead to increased consumption, resulting in greater levels of sales in the second and third quarters. The beverage merchandising operations of our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment are generally less sensitive to seasonal effects, although they do experience some seasonality as a result of increased consumption of milk by school children during the North American academic year, resulting in a greater level of carton product sales in the first and fourth quarters. In addition, the market for some of our products can be cyclical and sensitive to changes in general business conditions, industry capacity, consumer preferences and other factors. For information on factors that can affect our business cyclically, see the risk factor “Our business is subject to risks related to global economic conditions, including inflation and interest rates, consumer demand, global supply chain challenges and other macroeconomic issues that could have an adverse effect on our business and financial performance.” We have no control over these factors and they can significantly influence our financial performance.

Financial Risks

We have significant debt, which could adversely affect our financial condition and ability to operate our business.

We had $3,605 million of outstanding indebtedness as of December 31, 2023. Our debt level and related debt service obligations:

These restrictions could adversely affect our financial condition and limit our ability to successfully implement our growth strategy.

Borrowings under our credit agreement are at variable rates of interest, and as a result, as of December 31, 2023, $1,680 million, representing 47%, of our outstanding indebtedness was at variable rates of interest, exposing us to interest rate risk. Although our overall debt levels decreased by approximately 13% during 2023, the approximately 110 basis point increase in the variable index rate during 2023 increased our debt service obligations and correspondingly decreased our net income and cash flows.

As of December 31, 2023, approximately $680 million of the total $1,680 million of variable interest rate indebtedness was not hedged by an interest rate swap, and any additional interest rate swaps into which we enter may not fully mitigate our remaining interest rate risk. If interest rates continue to increase and we are not able to fully mitigate our remaining interest rate risk, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness would continue to increase even if the amount borrowed remained the same, and our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, would correspondingly decrease.

Moreover, approximately $925 million of our indebtedness is scheduled to mature during the next two years. If we are unable to devote sufficient capital to repaying this indebtedness in advance of, or upon, maturity, we would be required to seek additional financing to repay this indebtedness upon its maturity. In addition, we may need additional financing to support our business and pursue our growth strategy, including for strategic acquisitions. Our ability to obtain additional financing, if and when required, will depend on investor demand, our operating performance, the condition of the capital markets and other factors. We cannot assure you that additional financing will be available to us on favorable terms when required, or at all. If interest rates remain elevated, any refinancing to replace matured indebtedness as described earlier may be on less favorable terms than the indebtedness that it replaces, which would increase our debt service obligations and correspondingly decrease our net income and cash flows. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-linked or debt securities, those securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of our common stock and, in the case of equity and equity-linked securities, our existing shareholders would experience dilution.

Goodwill, intangible assets and other long-lived assets are material components of our balance sheet, and impairments of their balances could have a significant impact on our financial results.

We have recorded a significant amount of goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets in our consolidated financial statements resulting from our acquisitions. We test the carrying value of goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment at least annually and whenever events or circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. The estimates and assumptions about future results of operations and cash flows made in connection with the impairment testing could differ from future actual results of operations and cash flows. Any resulting impairment charge, although non-cash, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position.

Our historical financial results also include other asset impairment charges. These charges have arisen from a variety of events including decisions to exit certain businesses and ceasing to use certain equipment before the end of its useful life. Future asset impairment charges could arise as a result of changes in our business strategy or changes in the intention to use certain assets or facilities. Any resulting impairment charge, although non-cash, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position.

Our insurance may not adequately protect us against business and operating risks.

Insurance covers some, but not all, of the potential risks and liabilities associated with our business. For some risks, we may not obtain insurance if we believe the cost of available insurance is excessive in relation to the risks presented. As a result of market conditions, premiums and deductibles for certain insurance policies can increase substantially, and in some instances, certain insurance policies are economically unavailable or available only for reduced amounts of coverage. For example, we are not fully insured against all risks associated with pollution, contamination and other environmental incidents or impacts. Moreover, we may not be able to maintain adequate insurance in the future at rates we consider reasonable or to obtain or renew insurance against certain risks. We maintain a high deductible or self-insured retention on many of the risks that we do insure, and we would bear the cost or loss to the extent of the high deductible or self-insured retention. Any significant uninsured liability, or our high deductible or self-insured retention, may require us to pay substantial amounts which would adversely affect our financial position and results of operations.

We face risks associated with certain pension obligations.

We have pension plans that cover many of our employees, former employees and employees of formerly affiliated businesses. Certain of these pension plans are defined benefit pension plans pursuant to which the participants receive defined payment amounts regardless of the value or investment performance of the assets held by the plans. Deterioration in the value of plan assets, including equity and debt securities, resulting from a general financial downturn or otherwise, or a change in the interest rate used to discount the projected benefit obligations, could cause a decrease in the funded status of our defined benefit pension plans, thereby increasing our obligation to make contributions to the plans, which in turn would reduce the cash available for our business.

Our largest pension plan is the Pension Plan for Pactiv Evergreen, which we refer to as the PPPE. We became the sponsor when Pactiv Corporation (now Pactiv LLC, our indirect subsidiary) was spun-off from Tenneco Inc. in 1999. This plan covers certain of our employees as well as employees (or their beneficiaries) of certain companies previously owned by Tenneco but not owned by us. As a result, while persons who have never been our employees do not currently accrue benefits under the plan, the total number of beneficiaries covered by this plan is larger than if only our personnel were participants. For this reason, the impact of the pension plan on our net income and cash flow from operations has historically been greater than the impact typically found at similarly sized companies, and changes in the interest rate used to discount projected benefit obligations, governmental regulations related to funding of retirement plans, financial market performance and revisions to mortality tables as a result of changes in life expectancy have a disproportionate effect on our results of operations compared with similarly sized companies.

Since our IPO, we have reduced our exposure to pension obligations through acquisitions of non-participating group annuity contracts which have transferred the future benefit obligations and annuity administration for approximately 39,800 beneficiaries under our plans, thereby reducing our gross pension plan liabilities by approximately $2,900 million. While we have undertaken these transactions to reduce our business’s exposure to pension obligations, we nevertheless retain gross pension benefit obligations of $966 million.

During 2023, the PPPE’s net asset position increased from $16 million to $61 million, primarily as a result of asset returns, partially offset by a decrease in the discount rate. We contributed an immaterial amount to the PPPE during the year ended December 31, 2023. Future contributions to our pension plans, including the PPPE, depend on future plan asset returns and interest rates and are highly sensitive to changes. Any future contributions will reduce the cash otherwise available to operate our business and could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

The international scope of our operations and our corporate and financing structure may expose us to potentially adverse tax consequences.

We are subject to taxation in, and to the tax laws and regulations of, multiple jurisdictions as a result of the international scope of our operations and our corporate and financing structure. We are also subject to intercompany pricing laws, including those relating to the flow of funds between our companies pursuant to, for example, purchase agreements, licensing agreements or other arrangements. Adverse developments in these laws or regulations, or any change in position regarding the application, administration or interpretation of these laws or regulations in any applicable jurisdiction, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the tax authorities in any jurisdiction in which we operate, including the United States, may disagree with the positions we have taken or intend to take regarding the tax treatment or characterization of any of our transactions, including the tax treatment or characterization of our indebtedness. If any applicable tax authorities, including the U.S. tax authorities, were to successfully challenge the tax treatment or characterization of any of our transactions, it could result in the disallowance of deductions, the imposition of withholding taxes on internal deemed transfers or other consequences that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our commodity hedging activities may result in significant losses and in period-to-period earnings volatility.

We enter into hedging transactions from time to time to limit our exposure to raw material and energy price risks. Our commodity hedges are primarily related to resin, natural gas, ethylene, propylene, benzene, diesel and polyethylene. If our hedging strategies prove to be ineffective or if we fail to effectively monitor and manage our hedging activities, we could incur significant losses which could adversely affect our financial position and results of operations, and we could experience significant fluctuations in our earnings from period-to-period. Factors that could affect the impact and effectiveness of our hedging activities include the accuracy of our operational forecasts of raw material and energy needs and volatility of the commodities and raw materials pricing markets.

Currency exchange rate fluctuations could adversely affect our results of operations.

Our business is exposed to fluctuations in exchange rates. Although our reporting currency is U.S. dollars, we operate in multiple countries and transact in a range of foreign currencies. In addition, we are exposed to exchange rate risk as a result of sales, purchases, assets and borrowings (including intercompany borrowings) that are denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of the respective entities. Where possible, we try to minimize the impact of exchange rate fluctuations by transacting in local currencies so as to create natural hedges. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in protecting against these risks. Under certain circumstances in which we are unable to naturally offset our exposure to these currency risks, we may enter into derivative transactions to reduce such exposures. Nevertheless, exchange rate fluctuations may either increase or decrease our net revenues and expenses as

reported in U.S. dollars. Given the volatility of exchange rates, we may not be able to manage our currency transaction risks effectively, and volatility in currency exchange rates may materially adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Risks

Government regulations and judicial decisions affecting products we manufacture or the products contained in the products we produce could significantly reduce demand for our products.

Many governmental authorities, both in the United States and abroad, have considered, and are expected to consider, legislation aimed at reducing the amount of materials incapable of being recycled or composted. Programs have included, for example, banning or restricting certain types of products, mandating certain rates of recycling and the use of recycled materials, imposing fees or taxes on single-use items (often plastic), requiring retailers or manufacturers to take back packaging used for their products and requiring retailers to refrain from providing certain single-use or plastic items unless specifically requested. For instance, in 2022, California enacted the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, which, among other things, requires a 25% reduction of plastics in single-use products in the state by 2032 and escalating recycling, reuse or composting rates for single-use packaging, regardless of material, used in the state over time. Similarly, the Canadian government in 2021 enacted a broad prohibition on single-use plastics. While this policy is currently suspended following an adverse judgment by a lower court, the government could appeal that judgment or revise its requirement. Additionally, in 2023, members of the U.S. Congress introduced legislation to prohibit single-use plastic foam foodservice products. Any such legislation, as well as voluntary initiatives similarly aimed at reducing the level of single-use packaging waste, could reduce demand for our products. Some consumer products companies, including some of our customers, have responded to these governmental initiatives and to perceived environmental or sustainability concerns of consumers, investors and government and non-governmental organizations by using only recyclable or compostable containers.

We are subject to increasingly stringent environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, and we could incur significant costs in complying with, or liabilities and obligations related to, such laws and regulations.

We are subject to various federal, state, local and international environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, which have tended to become more stringent over time. Among other things, these laws and regulations govern the emission or discharge of materials into the environment, the use, storage, treatment, disposal, management and releases of, and exposure to, hazardous substances and wastes, the health and safety of our employees, protection of wildlife and endangered species, wood harvesting and the materials used in and the recycling of our products. Violations of these laws and regulations can result in substantial fines or penalties, injunctive relief, requirements to install pollution or other controls or equipment, civil and criminal sanctions, permit revocations and facility shutdowns. A number of our facilities require permits from environmental regulators, and obtaining and renewing these permits is a lengthy, expensive and burdensome process.

Moreover, we may be directly impacted by the risks and costs to us, our customers and our vendors of the effects of climate change, greenhouse gases and the availability of energy and water resources. These risks include the potentially adverse impact on forestlands, which are a key resource in the production of some of our products, increased product costs and a change in the types of products that customers purchase. We also face risks arising from the increased public focus, including by consumers, investors and governmental and non-governmental organizations, on these and other environmental sustainability matters, such as packaging and waste, deforestation and land use, including enacted or proposed legislation imposing fees on manufacturers and other suppliers of single-use food packaging and foodservice products to encourage and fund recycling of such products.

We are and have been involved, both proactively and in response to threatened litigation by regulators, in the remediation of current, former and third-party sites and could be held jointly and severally liable for the costs of investigating and remediating, and damages resulting from, present and past releases of hazardous substances and wastes at any site we have ever owned, leased, operated or used as a treatment or disposal site, including releases by prior owners or operators of sites we currently own or operate. We could also be subject to third-party claims for property or natural resource damage, personal injury or nuisance or otherwise as a result of violations of or liabilities under environmental laws and regulations or in connection with releases of hazardous or other substances or wastes. In addition, changes in, or new interpretations of, existing laws, regulations, permits or enforcement policies, the discovery of previously unknown contamination or the imposition of other environmental, health and safety liabilities or obligations in the future, including additional investigation or other obligations with respect to any potential health hazards of our products or business activities or the imposition of new permit requirements, may lead to additional compliance or other costs that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Moreover, as environmental issues, such as climate change, have become more prevalent, federal, state, local and foreign governments have responded, and are expected to continue to respond, with increased legislation and regulation, which could negatively affect us. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates certain greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, and various countries are party to the Paris Agreement, pursuant to which many have made national pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, in 2023 California enacted two climate disclosure bills to require subject companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risks, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed and is currently considering regulations to substantially increase the climate-related disclosures required of public companies. For more information on the potential impact of these and other efforts to increase disclosures relating to environmental matters, please refer to the risk factor “Our aspirations

and disclosures related to ESG matters expose us to risks that could adversely affect our reputation and performance.” These and other international, foreign, federal, regional and state climate change initiatives may cause us to incur additional direct costs in complying with new environmental legislation or regulations, such as costs to upgrade or replace equipment, or increased public-company compliance costs, as well as increased indirect costs resulting from our suppliers, customers or both incurring additional compliance costs that could get passed through to us or impact product demand.

We are subject to numerous labor laws and regulations, including those relating to worker safety and wages and hours, and failure to comply with these laws and regulations could negatively affect our business.

We are subject to a number of laws and regulations related to safety, including those administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and comparable state regulators. These regulations impose a number of requirements relating to workforce safety with which we are required to comply. For more information on the importance of safety in our manufacturing, please refer to the risk factor “Unsatisfactory safety performance may subject us to regulatory penalties, civil litigation or criminal prosecution, increase our insurance premiums, result in higher operating costs, negatively impact employee morale, result in higher employee turnover and damage our reputation.” Failure to comply with these requirements could result in penalties, fines, compliance costs and reputational damage that adversely affect our business.

Our operations are subject to a variety of foreign, federal, state and local labor laws and regulations, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Civil Rights Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Further, as discussed in greater detail in the risk factor “Employee slowdowns, strikes and similar actions could adversely affect our business and operations,” a substantial portion of our workforce is unionized. As a result, we are required to comply with a number of applicable labor-relations laws, including the National Labor Relations Act. We are from time to time subject to allegations that we have breached these and related legal requirements, and if we are found to have violated any of these laws, our business and operating results could be adversely affected.

We may incur material liabilities under, or costs in order to comply with, product quality and related laws and regulations to which our products are subject.

Many of our products come into contact with food and beverages, and the manufacture, packaging, labeling, storage, distribution, advertising and sale of those products are subject to various laws designed to protect human health. For example, in the United States, many of our products are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, which, among other things, promulgates current good manufacturing practice regulations, and our product claims and advertising are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. Most states have agencies that regulate in parallel to these federal agencies. Complying with these laws and regulations is costly, and if any of our products is deemed to be out of compliance with any of these laws and regulations, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Even without a determination that our products do not comply with relevant requirements, if consumers and our customers are uncertain about whether our products comply, for example if we face allegations of non-compliance, even if we ultimately prevail against those allegations, we may lose customers, or have difficulty selling our products, which would adversely affect our business. In addition, changes in these laws and regulations could impose significant limitations and require changes to our business, which in turn may increase our compliance expenses, make our business more costly and less efficient to conduct and compromise our growth strategy.

Our aspirations and disclosures related to ESG matters expose us to risks that could adversely affect our reputation and performance.

We have established and publicly announced ESG goals, including our commitments to set a long-term science-based target to reach net-zero value chain greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; to 100% of our packaging products being made with recycled, recyclable or renewable materials by 2030 (based on associated net revenue); and to various other initiatives. These statements reflect our current plans and aspirations and are not guarantees that we will be able to achieve them. Our failure to accomplish or accurately track and report on these goals on a timely basis, or at all, could adversely affect our reputation, financial performance and growth, and expose us to increased scrutiny from customers, consumers, investors, regulators and other stakeholders.

Our ability to achieve any ESG objective is subject to numerous risks, many of which are outside of our control. Examples of such risks include but are not limited to:

Standards for tracking and reporting ESG matters continue to evolve. Our use of disclosure frameworks and standards, and the interpretation or application of those frameworks and standards, may change from time to time or differ from those of others. This may result in a lack of consistent or meaningful comparative data from period to period or between us and other companies in the same industry. In addition, our processes and controls may not comply with evolving standards for identifying, measuring and reporting ESG metrics, including ESG-related disclosures that may be required of public companies by the SEC and other regulators, and such standards may change over time or conflict with one another, which could result in significant revisions to our current goals, reported progress in achieving such goals or ability to achieve such goals in the future; impose additional costs on us; or limit our ability to conduct business in certain jurisdictions.

If our ESG practices do not meet evolving customer, investor, regulator or other stakeholder expectations and standards, then our reputation, our ability to attract or retain employees and our attractiveness as an investment or supplier could be negatively impacted. Further, our failure or perceived failure to pursue or fulfill our goals and objectives or to satisfy various reporting standards on a timely basis, or at all, could have similar negative impacts or expose us to government enforcement actions and private litigation. For example, the SEC has proposed, and California has adopted, new climate change disclosure requirements. While the final scope of these disclosure regimes is not yet clear, because the SEC’s proposed regulations have not yet been promulgated and California has not yet adopted implementing regulations for its new statutory regime, compliance with these rules will likely ultimately require significant effort and resources and could result in changes to our current ESG goals.

Moreover, while we create and publish voluntary disclosures regarding ESG matters from time to time, many of the statements in those voluntary disclosures are based on hypothetical expectations and assumptions that may or may not be representative of current or actual risks or events or forecasts of expected risks or events, including the costs associated therewith. Such expectations and assumptions are necessarily uncertain and may be prone to error or subject to misinterpretation given the long timelines involved and the lack of an established single approach to identifying, measuring and reporting on many ESG matters. Moreover, organizations that provide information to investors on corporate governance and related matters have developed ratings processes for evaluating companies on their approach to ESG matters. Such ratings are used by some investors to inform their investment and voting decisions. Unfavorable ESG ratings and recent activism directed at shifting funding away from companies with unfavorable ESG profiles could lead to increased negative investor sentiment toward us and our industry and to the diversion of investment to other markets, which could have a negative impact on our access to and costs of capital. There is also the possibility that financial institutions could adopt policies that limit funding for companies with unfavorable ESG profiles. Any of these results could raise our cost of capital and diminish our access to necessary financing.

We are frequently involved in legal proceedings that could result in substantial liabilities for us.

We are subject to a variety of legal proceedings. It is difficult to predict with certainty the cost of defense or the outcome of any of these proceedings and their impact on our business, including remedies or damage awards. Adverse outcomes in any claim or lawsuit against us could result in significant monetary damages or injunctive relief that could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business. If liabilities or fines resulting from these proceedings are substantial or exceed our expectations, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected. In addition, regardless of the outcome of any legal proceedings, they are often costly and time consuming and could require significant attention from our management, and therefore could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

As an example of litigation to which we have been subject, in 2021, MP2 Energy LLC filed a lawsuit against one of our subsidiaries in state court in Texas. The complaint alleged that our subsidiary breached an agreement with MP2 to sell a certain quantity of energy at a specified price as a result of the disruptions caused by Winter Storm Uri. In 2022, we settled the case. As a result, the litigation has been resolved; however, if similar litigation is filed against us, we may incur significant legal fees, settlements or damages awards. If any such matter is not ultimately resolved in our favor, losses arising from the results of litigation or settlements, as well as ongoing defense costs, could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Supply of faulty or contaminated products could harm our reputation and business.

Although we have control measures and systems in place to ensure the maximum safety and quality of our products is maintained, the consequences of not being able to do so, due to accidental or malicious raw material contamination, or due to supply chain contamination caused by human error or faulty equipment, could be severe. These consequences may include adverse effects on consumer health and our reputation, loss of customers and market share, financial costs or loss of revenue. If any of our products are found to be defective, we could be required to recall them, which could result in adverse publicity, significant expenses and a disruption in sales that could affect our reputation and that of our products. Although we maintain product liability insurance coverage, potential product liability claims may exceed the amount of insurance coverage or potential product liability claims may be excluded under the terms of the policy. In addition, if any of our competitors or customers supply faulty or contaminated products to the market, or if manufacturers of the end-products that use our products produce faulty or contaminated products, our industry, or our end-products’ industries, could be negatively impacted, which could have adverse effects on our business. For more information on the laws and regulations impacting the quality of the products that we manufacture, please refer to the risk factor “We may incur material liabilities under, or costs in order to comply with, product quality and related laws and regulations to which our products are subject.”

Negative publicity, posts or comments on social media or networking sites about us, whether accurate or inaccurate, or non-public sensitive information about us, could be widely disseminated through the use of social media. Any of these events could harm our image and adversely affect our business as well as require resources to rebuild our reputation if they were to occur.

Cybersecurity breaches and improper access to or disclosure of our data or user data, or other infiltration, hacking and phishing attacks on our systems, could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.

We depend on information technology for processing and distributing information in our business, including to and from our customers and suppliers and for managing our production and distribution processes. This information technology is subject to theft, damage or interruption from a variety of sources, including malicious computer viruses, security breaches, defects in design, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, power and telecommunication failures, employee malfeasance or human or technical errors. Additionally, we can be at risk if a customer’s or supplier’s information technology system is attacked or compromised. Any failure to prevent or mitigate security breaches and improper access to or disclosure of our data or third-party data to which we have access, including personal information, could result in the loss or misuse of such data, which could harm our business and reputation and diminish our competitive position. In addition, computer malware, viruses, social engineering (such as phishing attacks), ransomware and general hacking have become more prevalent, have occurred on our systems in the past and may occur on our systems in the future. Such attacks may interrupt our business operations, damage our reputation, impair our internal systems or result in financial harm to us. Further, these risks could be heightened by the fact that many of our employees work, exclusively or partly, from home.

Although we have taken measures to protect our data and computer systems from attack, we have in the past been the subject of cybersecurity attacks that, while collectively immaterial, were nonetheless successful. These measures may not prevent unauthorized access to our systems or theft of our data. If we or third parties with whom we do business were to fall victim to cyber-attacks or experience other cybersecurity incidents, such incidents could result in unauthorized access to, disclosure or loss of or damage to company, customer or other third party data; theft of confidential data including personal information and intellectual property; loss of access to critical data or systems; and other business delays or disruptions. If these events were to occur, we may incur substantial costs or suffer other consequences that negatively impact our operations and financial results.

Moreover, the SEC recently promulgated regulations requiring us to disclose material cybersecurity incidents. This disclosure obligation is contingent upon the result of complex analyses, including a determination of materiality. The nature of cybersecurity incidents can make it difficult to quickly and comprehensively assess an incident’s overall impact to our business, and we may make errors in our assessments. If we are unable to appropriately assess a cybersecurity incident in the context of required analyses, we could face compliance issues under these and other regulations, and we could be subject to lawsuits, regulatory fines or investigations or other liabilities, any or all of which could adversely affect our business and operating results. Furthermore, cybersecurity incidents experienced by us, or by our customers or vendors, that lead to public disclosures may also lead to widespread negative publicity and increased government or regulatory scrutiny. Any security compromise, whether actual or perceived, could harm our reputation, erode customer confidence in our security measures, negatively affect our ability to attract new customers or subject us to third-party lawsuits, regulatory fines or investigations or other liability, any or all of which could adversely affect our business and operating results.

We are subject to stringent privacy laws, information security policies and contractual obligations governing the use, processing and cross-border transfer of personal information.

We receive, generate and store increasing amounts of sensitive information, such as personally identifiable information. We face a number of risks relative to protecting this critical information, including loss of access risk, inappropriate use or disclosure, inappropriate modification and the inability to adequately monitor, audit and modify our controls over our critical information. This risk extends to the third party vendors and subcontractors we use to manage this sensitive data.

We are subject to a variety of local, state, national and international laws, directives and regulations that apply to the collection, use, retention, protection, disclosure, transfer and other processing of personal data in the different jurisdictions in which we operate, including, most prominently, the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA. For example, the CCPA creates individual privacy rights for California consumers and increases the privacy and security obligations of entities handling certain personal data. In addition to fines and penalties imposed upon violators, some of these laws, including the CCPA, also afford private rights of action to individuals who believe their personal information has been misused. The interplay of foreign, federal and state laws may be subject to varying interpretations by courts and government agencies, creating complex compliance issues for us in regard to data we receive, use and share, potentially exposing us to additional expense, adverse publicity and liability. Legal requirements relating to the collection, storage, handling and transfer of personal information and personal data continue to evolve and may result in ever-increasing public scrutiny and escalating levels of enforcement, sanctions and increased costs of compliance.

Compliance with applicable data protection laws and regulations could also require us to change our business practices and compliance procedures in a manner adverse to our business. Penalties for violations of these laws vary but can be substantial. Moreover, complying with these various laws could require us to take on more onerous obligations in our contracts, restrict our ability to collect, use and disclose data, or in some cases, impact our ability to operate in certain jurisdictions. In addition, we rely on third-party vendors to collect, process and store data on our behalf, and we cannot guarantee that such vendors are in compliance with all applicable data protection laws and regulations. Our or our vendors’ failure to comply with applicable data protection laws and regulations could result in

government enforcement actions (which could include civil or criminal penalties), private litigation and adverse publicity and could negatively affect our operating results and business. Claims that we have violated individuals’ privacy rights, failed to comply with data protection laws or breached our contractual obligations or privacy policies, even if we are not found liable, could be expensive and time consuming to defend, could result in adverse publicity and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, and other similar anti-corruption, anti-bribery and anti-kickback laws and regulations, and any non-compliance with those laws or regulations by us or others acting on our behalf could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The FCPA and other similar anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws and regulations in other jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from offering or providing improper things of value to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or securing regulatory benefits. Under these laws, we may be liable for the actions of employees, officers, directors, agents, representatives, consultants or other intermediaries, or our strategic or local partners, including those over whom we may have little actual control. We continuously transact business, including in new locations, around the world, occasionally have contacts with foreign public officials and therefore have potential exposure to liability under laws such as the FCPA.

If we are found liable for violations of the FCPA or other similar anti-corruption, anti-bribery or anti-kickback laws or regulations, either due to our own acts or out of inadvertence, or due to the acts or inadvertence of others, we could suffer criminal or civil fines or penalties or other repercussions, including reputational harm, which could negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In 2020, we identified practices in our Evergreen Packaging Shanghai business, which was part of our legacy Beverage Merchandising segment, that involved acts potentially in violation of the FCPA. We voluntarily disclosed these matters and the results of our investigation conducted by external counsel, accountants and other advisors to the U.S. Department of Justice, or DOJ, and the SEC. Our investigation identified the occasional giving of gift cards representing relatively minor monetary values to government regulators and employees of state-owned enterprise customers in the People’s Republic of China over the course of several years. The amounts involved were immaterial, individually and in the aggregate, and the gift cards appear to have been provided at the times of Chinese holidays for general goodwill purposes only. We have remediated these practices, including by discontinuing the giving of gift cards. In the course of our investigation, we also identified certain other gift, travel and entertainment practices that did not comply with our policies and expectations. These findings provided an opportunity for targeted, enhanced controls and additional training in these areas. We presented our investigation findings to the DOJ and the SEC in 2021. In response to and based on our investigation findings, the DOJ and the SEC closed their files on this matter without any action against us.

We may not be successful in obtaining, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights, including our unpatented proprietary knowledge and trade secrets, or in avoiding claims that we infringed on the intellectual property rights of others.

In addition to relying on the patent, copyright and trademark rights granted under the laws of the United States and other countries in which we do business, we rely on unpatented proprietary knowledge and trade secrets and employ various methods, including confidentiality agreements with employees and third parties, to protect our knowledge and trade secrets. However, these precautions and our patents, copyrights and trademarks may not afford complete protection against infringement, misappropriation or other violation of our rights by third parties, and there can be no assurance that others will not independently develop the knowledge protected by our trade secrets or develop products that compete with ours despite not infringing, misusing or otherwise violating our intellectual property rights. Patent, copyright and trademark rights are territorial, and the protection they provide will only extend to those countries in which we have been issued patents and have registered trademarks or copyrights. Even so, the laws of certain countries do not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as U.S. laws do.

We believe that we have sufficient intellectual property rights to allow us to conduct our business without incurring liability to third parties. However, we or our products may nonetheless infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties, or we may determine in the future that we require a license or other rights to intellectual property rights held by third parties. Such a license or other rights may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms or at all, in which case we may be prevented from using, providing or manufacturing certain products, services or brands as we see fit. In addition, we may be subject to claims asserting infringement, misappropriation or other violation of third parties’ intellectual property rights seeking damages, the payment of royalties or licensing fees or injunctions against the sale of our products or other aspects of our business. If we are found to have infringed, misused or otherwise violated the intellectual property rights of others, we could be forced to pay damages, stop using the intellectual property rights or, if we are given the opportunity to continue to use the intellectual property rights of others, pay a substantial amount for continued use of those rights. Even if we are not found to infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate a third party’s intellectual property rights, we could incur substantial expense to defend against its claims, and we could incur significant costs associated with discontinuing to use, provide or manufacture certain products, services or brands, and the defense could be protracted and costly regardless of its outcome. Any of the foregoing could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Furthermore, we cannot be certain that the intellectual property rights we do obtain and rely on will not be challenged or invalidated in the future. In the event of such a challenge, we could incur significant costs to defend our rights, even if we are ultimately successful.

We also may not be able to prevent current and former employees, contractors and others from breaching confidentiality agreements and misappropriating trade secrets or other proprietary information. It is possible that third parties may copy or otherwise obtain and use our information and proprietary technology without authorization or otherwise infringe on our intellectual property rights. Infringement of our intellectual property rights may adversely affect our results of operations and make it more difficult for us to establish a strong market position in countries that may not adequately protect intellectual property rights. Others may develop technologies that are similar or superior to our technologies, duplicate our technologies or design around our patents, and steps taken by us to protect our technologies may not prevent infringement or misappropriation of those technologies. Additionally, we have licensed, and may license in the future, patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights to third parties. While we attempt to ensure that our intellectual property rights are protected when entering into business relationships, third parties may take actions that could adversely affect our rights or the value of our intellectual property rights or reputation. If necessary, we also rely on litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights and contractual rights, and, if not successful, we may not be able to protect the value of our intellectual property rights. Any litigation could be protracted and costly and could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations regardless of its outcome.

Risks Related to Shareholder Influence, Related Party Transactions and Governance

Packaging Finance Limited, or PFL, controls the direction of our business, and its concentrated ownership of our common stock will prevent you and other shareholders from influencing significant decisions.

PFL owns, and controls the voting power of, approximately 77% of our outstanding shares of common stock. As long as PFL continues to control a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock, it will generally be able to determine the outcome of all corporate actions requiring shareholder approval, including the election and removal of directors.

PFL and its affiliates engage in a broad spectrum of activities. In the ordinary course of their business activities, PFL and its affiliates may engage in activities where their interests may not be the same as, or may conflict with, the interests of our other shareholders. Other shareholders will not be able to affect the outcome of any shareholder vote while PFL controls the majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock. As a result, PFL will be able to control, directly or indirectly and subject to applicable law, the composition of our Board of Directors, or Board, which in turn will be able to control all matters over which we have control, including, among others:

In addition, the concentration of PFL’s ownership could also discourage others from making tender offers, which could prevent shareholders from receiving a premium for their common stock.

Because PFL’s interests may differ from ours or from those of our other shareholders, actions that PFL takes with respect to us, as our controlling shareholder, may not be favorable to us or our other shareholders.

Mr. Hart may have conflicts of interest with the holders of our shares of common stock or us in the future.

Mr. Graeme Richard Hart indirectly owns and controls PFL, and therefore a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock, and the actions he is able to undertake as our controlling shareholder may differ from or adversely affect the interests of our other shareholders. Under the stockholders agreement that we entered into in connection with our IPO, Mr. Hart, through PFL, has the power to nominate a majority of the directors to our Board for so long as PFL and other entities affiliated with Mr. Hart beneficially own more than 40% of our common stock, enabling Mr. Hart to control our legal and capital structure and operations, subject to applicable law. The stockholders agreement also provides that so long as such affiliated entities hold at least 5% of our shares, Mr. Hart, through PFL, will be entitled to receive access to certain of our information and also to routinely consult and advise senior management about our business and financial matters, and we have agreed to give consideration to his advice and proposals. The stockholders agreement also provides Mr. Hart, through PFL, with certain consent rights for so long as his affiliated entities hold at least 40% of our shares. Additionally, Mr. Hart is in the business of making investments in companies and may from time to time acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete, directly or indirectly, with us. Mr. Hart may also pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us.

Conflicts of interest may arise because certain of our directors hold a management or board position with PFL or other affiliated entities.

One of our directors is also a director of PFL, another director is Mr. Hart’s son-in-law and two of our directors are also directors of other entities affiliated with Mr. Hart. The relationships of these directors with Mr. Hart, PFL and other entities affiliated with Mr. Hart and us could create, or appear to create, conflicts of interest with respect to decisions involving both us and PFL and other entities affiliated with Mr. Hart that could have different implications for PFL and other entities affiliated with Mr. Hart and us. These decisions could, for example, relate to:

Conflicts of interest could also arise if we enter into any new agreements with PFL or other entities affiliated with Mr. Hart in the future, or if PFL or other entities affiliated with Mr. Hart decide to compete with us in any of our product categories. The presence of directors or officers of entities related to or affiliated with Mr. Hart, PFL and other entities affiliated with Mr. Hart on our Board could create, or appear to create, conflicts of interest and conflicts in allocating their time with respect to matters involving both us and any one of them, or involving us and PFL or other entities affiliated with Mr. Hart, that could have different implications for any of these entities than they do for us. Provisions of our Charter and bylaws address corporate opportunities that are presented to our directors who are also directors or officers of PFL or other entities affiliated with Mr. Hart and certain of their subsidiaries. We cannot assure you that our Charter will adequately address potential conflicts of interest, that potential conflicts of interest will be resolved in our favor or that we will be able to take advantage of corporate opportunities presented to individuals who are directors of both us and PFL or other entities affiliated with Mr. Hart. As a result, we may be precluded from pursuing certain advantageous transactions or growth initiatives.

We have entered, and may continue to enter, into certain related-party transactions. There can be no assurance that we could not have achieved more favorable terms if such transactions had not been entered into with related parties, or that we will be able to maintain existing terms in the future.

We have entered into various transactions with related parties including, among others:

While we believe that all of these transactions have been negotiated on an arm’s length basis and contain commercially reasonable terms, we may have been able to achieve more favorable terms had these transactions been entered into with unrelated parties. In addition, while goods and services are being provided to us by related parties, our operational flexibility to modify or implement changes in those goods or services or the amounts we pay or receive for them may be limited.

Potential conflicts of interest or disputes may arise between us and one or more related parties under these related party agreements, or relating to our past or future relationships in several areas including tax, employee benefits, intellectual property rights, indemnification and other matters. Furthermore, conflicts of interest may arise in connection with business opportunities that may be attractive to us and one or more related parties. In the event of a dispute under any of these related-party agreements, the interests of one or more related parties may not align with ours and the resolution of any such disputes may be adverse to us, or less favorable to us than we might achieve if we were not dealing with a related party, and our ability to enforce our contractual rights may be limited.

There can be no assurance that such present or any future transactions, and any potential disputes that may arise in connection with them, individually or in the aggregate, will not have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations, or that we could not have achieved more favorable terms if such transactions had not been entered into with related parties.

It is also likely that we may enter into related-party transactions in the future. Although most related party transactions that we enter into are subject to approval or ratification by the Audit Committee of the Board, there can be no assurance that such transactions,

individually or in the aggregate, will not have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations, or that we could not have achieved more favorable terms if such transactions had not been entered into with related parties.

The related party transactions we have entered into are of varying durations and may be amended upon agreement of the parties. PFL has the ability to determine the outcome of matters requiring shareholder approval, cause or prevent a change of control and change the composition of our Board. For so long as we are controlled by PFL, we may be unable to negotiate renewals or amendments to these agreements, if required, on terms as favorable to us as those we would be able to negotiate with an unaffiliated third party.

If PFL sells a controlling interest in our company to a third party in a private transaction, you may not realize any change-of-control premium on shares of our common stock, and we may become subject to the control of a presently unknown third party.

PFL owns, and controls the voting power of, approximately 77% of our outstanding shares of common stock. PFL has the ability, should it choose to do so, to sell some or all of its shares of our common stock in a privately negotiated transaction, which, if sufficient in size, could result in a change of control of our company.

The ability of PFL to privately sell its shares of our common stock, with no requirement for a concurrent offer to be made to acquire all of the shares of our common stock that are publicly traded, could prevent you from realizing any change-of-control premium on your shares of our common stock that may otherwise accrue to PFL on its private sale of our common stock. Additionally, if PFL privately sells its significant equity interests in our company, we may become subject to the control of a presently unknown third party that may have conflicts of interest with those of other shareholders. In addition, if PFL sells a controlling interest in our company to a third party, our liquidity could be impaired, our outstanding indebtedness could be subject to acceleration and our commercial agreements and relationships could be impacted, all of which could adversely affect our ability to run our business as described herein and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

RCP and Graham Packaging may compete with us, and their competitive positions in certain markets may constrain our ability to build and maintain partnerships.

We may face competition from a variety of sources, including RCP and Graham Packaging, today and in the future. For example, while we do have supply agreements in place with RCP, each of RCP and Graham Packaging may still compete with us in certain products or in certain channels. In addition, while RCP and Graham Packaging do not currently manufacture or sell products that compete with our products in the channels in which we sell our products, they each may do so in the future, including as a result of acquiring a company that manufactures products which compete with ours. RCP and Graham Packaging may have acquired know-how from their previous affiliation with our business, which could give them significant competitive advantages should they decide to engage in the type of business we conduct, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Although RCP has historically sold the products (primarily tableware and cups) that it purchases from us in the retail channel, and we sell those products in the foodservice business-to-business channel, after the termination of the supply agreement with RCP, it could seek to sell those products in the foodservice channel or otherwise compete with us. As our customer, RCP has information about our products, including pricing, and, as one of our former operating segments, Graham Packaging has knowledge of our business that could provide RCP and Graham Packaging with competitive advantages.

In addition, we may partner with companies that compete with RCP and Graham Packaging in certain markets. Our prior affiliation with RCP and Graham Packaging may affect our ability to effectively partner with these companies. These companies may favor our competitors because of our relationships with RCP and Graham Packaging.

We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq rules and, as a result, we qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to those requirements.

PFL controls a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock. As a result, we are presently a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq’s rules. Under these rules, a listed company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including:

While PFL controls a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock, we continue to rely on some of these exemptions and, as a result, we do not presently have a Compensation Committee or a Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee consisting entirely of independent directors. Accordingly, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of Nasdaq’s corporate governance requirements.

We may be liable for significant taxes if the distributions of RCP or of Graham Packaging to PFL are determined to be taxable transactions.

In February 2020, before RCP’s IPO, we effected certain distributions to transfer the interests of RCP to PFL in a manner that was intended to qualify as tax-free to PFL, us and Pactiv Evergreen Group Holdings Inc., which we refer to as PEGHI, under Sections 368(a)(1)(D) and 355 of the Internal Revenue Code. In addition, before the closing of our IPO in September 2020, we also effected certain distributions to transfer the interests of Graham Packaging to PFL in a manner that was intended to qualify as tax-free to PFL, us and PEGHI under Section 355 of the Internal Revenue Code.

We have received tax opinions as to the tax treatment of the RCP and Graham Packaging distributions. These tax opinions rely on certain facts, assumptions, representations and undertakings from Mr. Hart, RCP or Graham Packaging, as applicable, and us regarding the past and future conduct of our, and RCP’s or Graham Packaging’s, as applicable, respective businesses and other matters. If any of these facts, assumptions, representations or undertakings is incorrect or not satisfied, we may not be able to rely on the tax opinions and could be subject to significant tax liabilities with respect to the RCP or Graham Packaging distributions. Despite the tax opinions, the Internal Revenue Service could determine on audit that the RCP or Graham Packaging distributions are taxable if it determines that any of the facts, assumptions, representations or undertakings are not correct or have been violated or if it disagrees with the conclusions in the opinions, or for other reasons, including as a result of certain significant changes in the stock ownership of us, RCP or Graham Packaging, as applicable, or PEGHI. If the RCP or Graham Packaging distributions are determined to be taxable for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we could be liable for significant U.S. federal income tax liabilities.

We entered into tax matters agreements with each of RCP and Graham Packaging in connection with their respective distributions. Under these agreements, each distributed business will generally be required to indemnify us against taxes incurred with respect to the applicable distribution that arise as a result of, among other things, (i) a breach of any representation made under the applicable tax matters agreement, including those provided in connection with an opinion of tax counsel, or (ii) RCP or Graham Packaging, as applicable, taking or failing to take, as the case may be, certain actions, in each case that result in the distributions failing to meet the requirements for tax-free treatment under the Internal Revenue Code. If RCP or Graham Packaging does not indemnify us in accordance with the applicable tax matters agreement, we would bear such tax liability.

Risks Relating to Being a Public Company

Anti-takeover provisions in our Charter and bylaws and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company more difficult, limit attempts by our shareholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our common stock.

Provisions in our Charter and bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management, including provisions that:

Additionally, after PFL and all other entities beneficially owned by Mr. Hart, their successors and affiliates and any of their transferees in connection with certain transfers other than widely distributed public sales beneficially own less than 50% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, additional anti-takeover provisions take effect, including provisions that:

Even after we cease to be a controlled company, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our shareholders to replace or remove our incumbent management by making it more difficult for shareholders to replace members of our Board, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. As a result, these provisions may adversely affect the market price and market for our common stock if they are viewed as limiting the liquidity of our stock. These provisions may also make it more difficult

for a third party to acquire us in the future and, as a result, our shareholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares.

Further, we entered into a stockholders agreement with PFL in connection with our IPO in September 2020. That agreement gives PFL the right to nominate a certain number of directors to our Board so long as it beneficially owns at least 10% of the outstanding shares of our common stock.

We intend to pay regular dividends on our common stock, but our ability to do so may be limited.

We intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock on a quarterly basis, subject to the discretion of our Board and our compliance with applicable law, and depending on our results of operations, capital requirements, financial condition, business prospects, contractual restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable laws and other factors that our Board deems relevant.

Our ability to pay dividends may also be restricted by the terms of our existing debt agreements or any future debt or preferred equity securities. Our dividend policy entails certain risks and limitations, particularly with respect to our liquidity. By paying cash dividends rather than investing that cash in our business or repaying any outstanding debt, we risk, among other things, slowing the expansion of our business, having insufficient cash to fund our operations or make capital expenditures or limiting our ability to incur borrowings. Our Board will periodically review the cash generated from our business and the capital expenditures required to finance our growth plans and determine whether to modify the amount of regular dividends or declare any periodic special dividends. There can be no assurance that our Board will not reduce the amount of regular cash dividends or cause us to cease paying dividends altogether.

Our Charter makes the Delaware Court of Chancery the exclusive forum for most disputes between us and our shareholders, which could limit our shareholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our Charter makes the Delaware Court of Chancery the exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; any action asserting a claim against us under the Delaware General Corporation Law, our Charter or our bylaws; or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine; except, in each case, for claims to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act and for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, our Charter provides that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts are the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act or the federal forum provision.

The choice of forum provision and federal forum provision may limit a shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving that action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, while the Delaware Supreme Court in 2020 ruled that federal forum selection provisions purporting to require claims under the Securities Act to be brought in federal court were facially valid under Delaware law, there is uncertainty as to whether other courts will enforce our federal forum provision. If the federal forum provision is found to be unenforceable, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters. The federal forum provision may also impose additional litigation costs on shareholders who assert the provision is not enforceable or invalid.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 1C. Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity risk management is an integral part of our overall enterprise risk management program. Our cybersecurity risk management program is designed to align with industry best practices and provide a framework for evaluating and implementing methods to assess, identify and manage material risks from cybersecurity threats and properly respond to incidents, including threats and incidents associated with the use of services provided by third-party service providers. This framework includes steps for assessing the severity of a cybersecurity threat, identifying the source of a cybersecurity threat (including whether the cybersecurity threat is associated with a third-party service provider), implementing cybersecurity countermeasures and mitigation strategies and informing management and our Board of Directors of material cybersecurity threats and incidents. Our cybersecurity team leads a regular cybersecurity working group meeting with representatives from across the Company’s centers of excellence, as well as a quarterly cybersecurity steering committee meeting with executives from across the Company, to facilitate coordination across different functional groups within our Company and ensure broad awareness of ongoing cybersecurity initiatives and assessments. These committees also hold ad hoc meetings as necessary to address urgent threats that arise in between meetings. Our cybersecurity team also engages third-party security experts for risk assessment and system enhancements. In addition, our cybersecurity team provides training to all employees annually.

Our Board of Directors has overall oversight responsibility for our risk management and has delegated cybersecurity risk management oversight to the Audit Committee of the Board. The Audit Committee of the Board is responsible for ensuring that management has processes in place designed to identify and evaluate cybersecurity risks to which we are exposed and implement processes and procedures to manage cybersecurity risks and mitigate cybersecurity incidents. The Audit Committee of the Board also reports material cybersecurity risks to our full Board of Directors. Management is responsible for identifying, considering and assessing material cybersecurity risks on an ongoing basis, establishing processes to ensure that such potential cybersecurity risk exposures are monitored, putting in place appropriate mitigation measures and maintaining our cybersecurity program. Our cybersecurity program is managed under the direction of our Senior Vice President for Business Transformation, who receives reports from our cybersecurity team, including our Chief Information Security Officer, or CISO, and monitors the prevention, detection, mitigation and remediation of cybersecurity incidents. The CISO, in coordination with senior management, works collaboratively across the Company to implement a program designed to protect our information systems from cybersecurity threats and to respond promptly to any material cybersecurity incidents in accordance with our incident response and recovery plans. To facilitate the success of our cybersecurity program, cross-functional teams throughout the Company address cybersecurity threats and respond to cybersecurity incidents. Through ongoing communications, the CISO and these teams inform senior management about, and monitor the prevention, detection, mitigation and remediation of, cybersecurity threats and incidents in real time, and report such threats and incidents to the Audit Committee when appropriate.

Our CISO has 42 years of experience in a diverse array of information and security technologies and has managed various domains, with expertise in enterprise resource planning, finite scheduling, middleware technologies, network control, operational control, identity access and governance and data center management. He and our other dedicated cybersecurity personnel collectively hold numerous certifications, including in relation to forensic investigation, threat hunting and digital forensics, risk and information system controls, Google cybersecurity, information security auditors and fraud examiners. Additionally, the collective cybersecurity team members have substantial experience in information technology disciplines and prioritize remaining educated on current threats.

Our cybersecurity team regularly updates the Audit Committee of the Board on our cybersecurity program, material cybersecurity risks and mitigation strategies and provides quarterly cybersecurity reports that cover, among other topics, third-party assessments of the Company’s cybersecurity program, developments in cybersecurity and updates to the Company’s cybersecurity program and mitigation strategies.

In 2023, we did not identify any cybersecurity threats that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition. However, despite our efforts, we cannot eliminate all risks from cybersecurity threats, or provide assurances that we have not experienced an undetected cybersecurity incident. For more information about these risks, please see the risk factor above entitled “Cybersecurity breaches and improper access to or disclosure of our data or user data, or other infiltration, hacking and phishing attacks on our systems, could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.”

Item 2. Properties

Our corporate office is located in leased office space in Lake Forest, Illinois. As of December 31, 2023, we leased or owned 87 other U.S. facilities and 13 international facilities, some of which included multiple buildings and warehouses. This included the 56 manufacturing facilities and 42 warehouses that comprised our global production and distribution network.

We believe that all of our facilities are adequate to meet our current needs and our needs for the immediate future, and should it be needed, we will be able to secure additional space to accommodate any expansion of our operations.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

Please refer to the disclosure under the heading “Legal Proceedings” in Note 14, Commitments and Contingencies, to our annual consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for a description of our material pending legal proceedings, which disclosure is incorporated by reference into this Item 3 of Part I.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Principal Market

Our common stock has been listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC under the symbol “PTVE” since September 21, 2020. Before that date, there was no public trading market for our common stock.

Shareholders

As of February 23, 2024, there were two holders of record of our common stock. The actual number of our shareholders is greater than this number and includes beneficial owners whose shares are held in the “street name” by banks, brokers and other nominees. This number of holders of record also does not include shareholders whose shares are held in trust by other entities.

Dividends

Refer to Liquidity and Capital Resources - Dividends in Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, for a discussion of cash dividends declared on our common stock.

Use of Proceeds from Sale of Registered Securities

On September 16, 2020, the SEC declared our amended Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-248250) effective for the initial public offering of our common stock, pursuant to which we offered and sold a total of 41,026,000 shares of our common stock at a public offering price of $14.00 per share for aggregate net proceeds of $546 million. As part of the offering, our underwriters were given an option to acquire additional shares at the offering price, which was partially exercised on October 20, 2020 for 1,723,710 shares, resulting in a further $23 million in net proceeds. As of December 31, 2023, all proceeds from our IPO have been applied as described in our final prospectus filed with the SEC on September 18, 2020, and the reporting of such use in our quarterly and annual reports is hereby completed.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

None.

Sales of Unregistered Securities

None.

Performance Graph

The material under this “Performance Graph” heading shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material” or to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or incorporated by reference into any of our other filings under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate it by reference into such filing.

The following graph compares our cumulative total shareholder return from September 21, 2020 to December 31, 2023 to that of the Russell MidCap Index and the Dow Jones U.S. Containers & Packaging Index. As required by Item 201(e)(4) of Regulation S-K, the graph also compares our cumulative total shareholder return to two indices to which it was compared in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 but to which we no longer intend to compare it, namely the S&P 500 Index and a customized peer group of companies, comprised of AptarGroup, Inc., Avery Dennison Corporation, Berry Global Group, Inc., Clearwater Paper Corporation, Crown Holdings, Inc., Graphic Packaging Holding Company, Greif, Inc., O-I Glass, Inc., P.H. Glatfelter Company, Packaging Corporation of America, Resolute Forest Products Inc., Sealed Air Corporation, Silgan Holdings Inc., Sonoco Products Company and Tupperware Brands Corporation. We elected to eliminate presentation of the S&P 500 Index because we believe that the Russell MidCap Index is the broad equity market index that is more reflective of companies with a comparable market capitalization to ours, and we elected to replace our customized peer group of companies with the Dow Jones U.S. Containers and Packaging Index, an index-based comparator, because we believe that index is reflective of the markets in which we operate.

The graph assumes that $100 was invested at the market close on September 21, 2020 in our common stock, each index and the customized peer group, and that all dividends were reinvested.

The total shareholder return performances set forth in the graph above are not necessarily indicative of future total shareholder return performance.

Item 6. [Reserved]

Not applicable.

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is intended to provide a reader of our financial statements with a narrative from the perspective of our management regarding our financial condition and results of operations, liquidity and certain other factors that may affect our future results. The following discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements. It should be read in connection with the other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the consolidated financial statements and related notes, the cautionary information contained in Forward-Looking Statements and Item 1A, Risk Factors.

Overview of Business and Strategy

For a description of our business and strategy, refer to Item 1, Business.

Change in Segments

In the second quarter of 2023, in conjunction with the Beverage Merchandising Restructuring, we implemented a new operating and reporting structure resulting in the combination of our legacy Food Merchandising and Beverage Merchandising segments, creating our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment. We also reorganized the management of certain product lines from our Foodservice segment to our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment.

As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, we analyzed the results of our business through our Foodservice and Food and Beverage Merchandising segments. All prior periods have been recast to reflect the current reportable segment structure and the change in the management of certain product lines.

In addition, we provided certain unaudited recast financial information reflecting our new reportable segments for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the four quarters of the year ended December 31, 2022 and the three months ended March 31, 2023 in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on August 2, 2023.

Refer to Note 4, Restructuring, Asset Impairment and Other Related Charges, and Note 20, Segment Information, to the consolidated financial statements for additional details.

Business Environment

During 2023, we experienced a continued moderation in consumer demand for certain of our products, primarily driven by sustained high levels of inflation and general macroeconomic uncertainty. While we have not seen a material economic contraction to date, these pressures may continue to impact consumer demand and thus our customers’ purchasing decisions and order patterns in 2024.

In recent years, we experienced meaningful input cost inflation and challenging labor market conditions. While inflationary pressures remain, our input costs have begun to moderate in certain circumstances during 2023. We believe our pricing strategy provides us with flexibility to manage our market position through cost recovery mechanisms and strategic competitive pricing. In this dynamic environment, we remain focused on servicing our customers and improving manufacturing productivity across our business.

During the second quarter of 2023, we ceased operations at our Canton, North Carolina mill and our converting facility in Olmsted Falls, Ohio, and certain production from the Olmsted Falls facility was reallocated to other sites. These actions allowed us to focus our resources and solidify our leadership position in large, growing end markets while prioritizing our distinctive core strengths. We continue to explore strategic alternatives for certain of our facilities to further drive growth and operational excellence.

The increase in interest rates from historically low levels in recent years, higher levels of inflation and geopolitical factors continue to create uncertainty with respect to the economic outlook. If economic conditions were to deteriorate, a further decline in consumer spending may result, which could lead to a meaningful decline in demand for our products in 2024 and beyond.

Recent Developments and Significant Items Affecting Comparability

Footprint Optimization

On February 29, 2024, we announced a restructuring plan to optimize our manufacturing and warehousing footprint (the “Footprint Optimization”) that we expect will improve our operating efficiency and result in significant cost savings.

For additional information related to this restructuring program, refer to Note 21, Subsequent Events, to the consolidated financial statements.
 

Beverage Merchandising Restructuring

On March 6, 2023, we announced the Beverage Merchandising Restructuring, a plan approved by our Board of Directors to take significant restructuring actions related to our Beverage Merchandising operations. We expect these actions over time to increase our production efficiency, streamline our management structure and reduce our ongoing capital expenditures and overhead costs.

We expect that the Beverage Merchandising Restructuring will enable us to maintain our strong position in the liquid packaging market by increasing our overall productivity over time and optimizing our manufacturing footprint. It also resulted in our exit from the uncoated freesheet paper market.

We also continue to explore strategic alternatives for our Pine Bluff, Arkansas mill and our Waynesville, North Carolina facility. We have not set a definitive timetable in relation to this process.

The operations impacted by the Beverage Merchandising Restructuring did not qualify for presentation as discontinued operations.

Refer to Note 4, Restructuring, Asset Impairment and Other Related Charges, to the consolidated financial statements for additional details.

Dispositions

In addition to the Beverage Merchandising Restructuring, we made strategic decisions over recent periods to focus on our core, business-to-business North American foodservice and food and beverage merchandising operations. Accordingly, we divested or exited certain of our non-core businesses which enables us to focus on our strategic core competencies.

On January 4, 2022, we entered into a definitive agreement with SIG Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft GmbH to sell Beverage Merchandising Asia. The transaction closed on August 2, 2022, and we received proceeds of $336 million. We recognized a gain on sale of $239 million during the year ended December 31, 2022. Sales of liquid packaging board to our former Beverage Merchandising Asia operations, which were previously eliminated in consolidation, are recorded as external net revenues subsequent to the transaction’s completion.

In September 2022, we committed to a plan to sell our remaining closures businesses. We completed the sale of a substantial portion of these businesses on October 31, 2022, and the remaining operations in the first quarter of 2023, each for an immaterial amount. As a result, we recognized a charge to earnings of $56 million within restructuring, asset impairment and other related charges during the year ended December 31, 2022.

On March 29, 2022, we completed the sale of our equity interests in Naturepak Beverage, our 50% joint venture with Naturepak Limited, to affiliates of Elopak ASA. We received proceeds of $47 million and recognized a gain on the sale of our equity interests of $27 million during the year ended December 31, 2022.

None of these dispositions qualified for presentation as discontinued operations.

Pension Partial Settlement Transactions

On September 20, 2022, February 24, 2022 and July 21, 2021, using PPPE assets, we purchased non-participating group annuity contracts from insurance companies and transferred a portion of the PPPE’s projected benefit obligations. In each instance, the respective insurance companies have assumed responsibility for pension benefits and annuity administration. The following table provides details regarding each transaction:

Fabri-Kal Acquisition

On October 1, 2021, we acquired 100% of the outstanding ownership interests of Fabri-Kal for a purchase price of $378 million, including final adjustments for cash, indebtedness and working capital of $2 million, in total, paid during the year ended December 31, 2022. Fabri-Kal is a U.S. manufacturer of thermoformed plastic packaging products. Its products include food containers and drinkware (cold cups and lids) for the institutional foodservice and consumer packaged goods markets. The acquisition included four manufacturing facilities in the U.S. The acquisition broadened our portfolio of sustainable packaging products and expanded our manufacturing capacity to better serve our customers. The acquisition was funded with our existing cash resources and a portion of the U.S. term loans Tranche B-3 incurred in September 2021.

Winter Storm Elliott, Winter Storm Uri and Tropical Storm Fred

In December 2022, the U.S. was impacted by Winter Storm Elliott, which brought unusually low temperatures, snow and ice and resulted in power failures, hazardous road conditions, damage to property and death and injury to individuals. During most of this weather event,

we were unable to fully operate our mills in Arkansas and North Carolina, and our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment incurred $8 million of incremental costs, primarily related to precautionary shut-down costs.

During February 2021, the Southern portion of the U.S. was impacted by Winter Storm Uri, which brought record low temperatures, snow and ice and resulted in power failures, hazardous road conditions, damage to property and death and injury to individuals in those states. During most of this weather event, we were unable to fully operate some of our mills, plants and warehouses in Texas and Arkansas. During the first half of 2021, we incurred approximately $50 million of incremental costs including energy costs, primarily related to natural gas, shut-down costs and some property damage during the storm. Our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment was impacted to the greatest degree with incremental costs of $37 million incurred by our mill in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. As a result of the storm, certain of our suppliers with locations in the impacted areas were also unable to operate which subsequently has resulted in their declaration of force majeure on meeting the supply quantities due to us. In particular, our supply of various resin types was limited, and we were required to purchase from other suppliers, and at a higher price, in order to meet our production demands for March and April. As further discussed in our Results of Operations, our cost of sales was impacted for 2021 as the products manufactured with this higher priced material were sold.

During August 2021, the Southeastern portion of the U.S. was impacted by Tropical Storm Fred which brought severe flooding. As a result of the storm, our mill in Canton, North Carolina experienced a flood which resulted in the damage of certain property, plant and equipment. The mill subsequently experienced an explosion and resulting fire. Due to the extensive damage sustained from the flood, fire and related events, we were unable to fully operate our mill for several days during the third quarter of 2021. Accordingly, our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment incurred $7 million of incremental costs, including costs related to the shut-down of the mill and to repair damaged property, plant and equipment, during 2021.

COVID-19

During the early part of 2021, we experienced lower demand for our products and, as a result, a decline in revenues. Commencing in the second quarter of 2021 and continuing throughout 2021, volumes improved in our business, most significantly in our Foodservice segment. The strong volumes in 2021 were followed by more typical customer order patterns in 2022. We did not experience significant issues across our supply chain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the sourcing of materials and logistics service providers.

Summary of Results

Our results for the year ended December 31, 2023 reflect the impacts from the Beverage Merchandising Restructuring, including the closure of the Canton, North Carolina mill in the second quarter of 2023, as well as the impact from the sale of Beverage Merchandising Asia on August 2, 2022. Our net revenues decreased 11% to $5,510 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to $6,220 million in the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to the closure of our Canton, North Carolina mill, lower sales volume and the disposition of Beverage Merchandising Asia. Lower sales volume was mainly due to a focus on value over volume and the market softening amid inflationary pressures. Favorable pricing in our Food and Beverage Merchandising segment, driven by pricing actions, was offset by unfavorable pricing in our Foodservice segment, mainly due to the contractual pass-through of lower material costs.

Net loss from continuing operations was $222 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to net income from continuing operations of $319 million in the prior year. The change was impacted by $470 million of current year charges related to the Beverage Merchandising Restructuring and a $152 million decrease in tax expense. The decline in tax expense was driven by the tax effects on the sale of businesses in the prior year and benefits of restructuring charges in the current year, which were partially offset by our inability to recognize a tax benefit on all current year interest expense. In addition, the prior year included $266 million of gains on the sale of businesses and $57 million of pension settlement gains, partially offset by a $56 million impairment charge due to the decision to exit our remaining closures businesses.

Our Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations increased 7% to $840 million compared to $785 million in the prior year. The increase reflects lower material costs, net of costs passed through, and lower transportation and employee-related costs, partially offset by higher manufacturing costs and lower sales volume as well as the impact from the closure of our Canton, North Carolina mill and the disposition of Beverage Merchandising Asia. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations is a non-GAAP measure. For details, refer to Non-GAAP Measures - Adjusted EBITDA from Continuing Operations, including a reconciliation between net (loss) income from continuing operations and Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations.

Our capital expenditures were $285 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to $258 million in the prior year.

Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations

We believe that our performance and future success depend on a number of factors that present significant opportunities for us but also pose risks and challenges, including those discussed below and in the section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K titled “Risk Factors.”

Consumer Behavior and Trends

Our sales are driven by consumer buying habits in the markets that our customers serve and by the volume of sales made from our customers to consumers. Consequently, we are exposed to changes in consumer demand patterns that ultimately influence our customers’

purchasing decisions. Changes in consumer preferences for products in the industries that we serve or the packaging formats in which such products are delivered, whether as a result of changes in cost, convenience or health or environmental and social concerns and perceptions, may result in a decline in the demand for certain of our products. For example, certain of our products are used for dairy and fresh juice, and as sales of those beverages have generally declined over recent years, we have had to find new markets for these products. On the other hand, changing preferences for products and packaging formats may also result in increased demand for other products we manufacture. For instance, the growth in consumer preference for organic meat and poultry outpaces the growth in consumer preference for conventional meat and poultry. Organic meat and poultry are often packaged in PET or molded fiber, which may drive a shift from polystyrene foam packaging for these products toward higher value PET and molded fiber substrates.

Sustainability

Interest in environmental sustainability has increased over the past decade, and we expect that sustainability will play an increasing role in customer and consumer purchasing decisions. There have been recent concerns about the environmental impact of single-use products and products made from plastic, particularly polystyrene foam. Governmental authorities in the U.S. and abroad continue to implement legislation aimed at reducing the amount of plastic and other materials incapable of being recycled or composted. This type of legislation, as well as voluntary initiatives similarly aimed at reducing the level of single-use packaging waste, could reduce demand for certain products. In addition, state and local bans on polystyrene foam packaging may drive a shift to the use of higher value substrates, such as paper, molded fiber, polypropylene and PET.

Some consumer products companies, including some of our customers, have responded to these governmental initiatives and to perceived environmental or sustainability concerns of consumers by using only recyclable or compostable containers. As our customers may shift towards purchasing more sustainable products, we have focused much of our innovation efforts around sustainability. Across our business, we believe we are well positioned to benefit from growth in fiber-based, recycled, recyclable and/or compostable packaging. For instance, in Foodservice, we continue to develop and introduce new products under our EarthChoice®, Greenware® and Recycleware® brands. In Food and Beverage Merchandising, we continue to develop and produce new sustainable product innovations, such as our recycled PET meat and poultry trays and new fiber-based beverage cartons.

We intend to continue sustainability-driven innovation to ensure that we are at the leading edge of recyclable, renewable and compostable products in order to offer our customers environmentally sustainable choices. Our goal is that 100% of the packaging products we sell will be made from recycled, recyclable or renewable materials by 2030, based on associated net revenue. In 2023, we reached approximately 66% of that goal. We expect to incur capital expenditures and research and development costs as a result of developing these products and/or increasing manufacturing of existing sustainable products.

Food Safety

Food safety remains a top concern among our customers and consumers, and packaging plays a critical role in keeping food safe. Within food processing and retail, consumers increasingly value enhanced packaging features such as tamper-evident containers to ensure freshness and food safety. Within foodservice, providers value tamper-evident packaging due to increased customer concerns around food quality and safety. In addition, the growth of food delivery is creating a greater need for tamper-evident seals and packaging formats to ensure consumer safety. We expect that the desire for safe packaging will play an increasing role in customer purchasing decisions and create significant new product opportunities for us.

Raw Materials, Energy and Labor

Raw Materials and Energy Prices

Our results of operations and the gross profits corresponding to each of our segments are impacted by changes in the costs of our raw materials and energy prices. Resin prices have historically fluctuated based on changes in supply and demand and been influenced by the prices of crude oil and monomers, which may be impacted by extreme weather conditions and the demand for other end uses. The prices of raw wood and wood chips may fluctuate due to external conditions such as weather, product scarcity and commodity market fluctuations and changes in governmental policies and regulations. Purchases of most of our raw materials are based on negotiated rates with suppliers, which are tied to published indices. Many of the raw materials utilized by our mill are purchased on the spot market. The prices for some of our raw materials, particularly resins, have fluctuated significantly in recent years. Prices for raw wood and wood chips have fluctuated less than the prices of resins. Raw wood and wood chips are typically purchased from sources close to our mill and, as a result, prices are established locally based on factors such as local competitive conditions and weather conditions. Management expects continued volatility in raw material prices and such volatility may impact our results of operations.

Historical index prices of resin from December 2021 through December 2023 are shown in the chart below. This chart presents index prices and does not represent the prices at which we purchase resin.

We are also sensitive to energy-related cost movements, particularly those that affect transportation and utility costs. Historically, we have been able to mitigate the effect of higher energy-related costs with productivity improvements and other cost reductions. However, significant spikes in energy costs due to abnormal weather conditions may not be recovered through such means and could have a significant impact to our profitability. For example, in the first quarter of 2021, the impact of Winter Storm Uri increased energy costs for our facilities in the southern portion of the U.S.

We use various strategies to manage cost exposures on certain raw material purchases with the objective of obtaining more predictable costs for these commodities. From time to time, we enter into hedging agreements for some of our raw materials and energy sources to minimize the impact of price fluctuations. From time to time, we may enter into commodity financial instruments or derivatives to hedge commodity prices primarily related to resin, natural gas and diesel. Although we continue to take steps to minimize the impact of the volatility of raw material prices through commodity hedging, fixed supplier pricing, reducing the lag time in contractual raw material cost pass-through mechanisms and entering into additional indexed customer contracts that include raw material cost pass-through provisions, these efforts may prove to be inadequate.

Labor Costs and Availability

Labor is one of the primary components in the cost of operating our business. Our cost of labor is influenced by the demand and supply of labor as well as employee productivity. At times during the past three years, and in particular during the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, we experienced labor shortages that decreased production output in many of our plants and contributed to an increase in our labor cost. Although we noticed a marked increase in our ability to attract employees over the course of 2022 and 2023, we continue to experience heightened employee turnover, particularly among our newest employees. Increased turnover particularly affects our business, as the equipment required to operate our business is complicated and requires substantial training before an employee is at full productivity. As a result, we have experienced a decrease in employee productivity in certain of our plants, which has also contributed to increasing our operating expenses.

Competition and Pricing

The markets in which we sell our products historically have been, and continue to be, highly competitive, and our pricing strategy is influenced by industry dynamics and market competition. While we have long-term relationships with many of our customers, the underlying contracts may be re-bid or renegotiated from time to time, and we may not be successful in renewing on favorable terms or at all.

Revenue is also directly impacted by changes in raw material costs as a result of raw material cost pass-through mechanisms in many of our customer pricing agreements. Generally, the contractual price adjustments do not occur simultaneously with commodity price fluctuations, but rather on a mutually agreed upon schedule, which often causes a lead-lag effect, during which margins are negatively impacted in the short term when raw material costs increase and positively impacted in the short term when raw material costs decrease. Historically, the average lag time in implementing raw material cost pass-through mechanisms has been between three and four months. We take pricing actions, where possible, to mitigate the effects of raw material cost increases for customers that are not subject to raw material cost pass-through agreements and to mitigate the effects of other costs increases, such as increases in labor and transportation costs.

Non-GAAP Measures – Adjusted EBITDA from Continuing Operations

In this Annual Report on Form 10-K we use the non-GAAP measure Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations.

Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations is defined as net (loss) income from continuing operations calculated in accordance with GAAP, plus the sum of income tax expense, net interest expense, depreciation and amortization and further adjusted to exclude certain items, including but not limited to restructuring, asset impairment and other related charges, gains or losses on the sale of businesses and noncurrent assets, non-cash pension income or expense, unrealized gains or losses on derivatives, foreign exchange gains or losses on cash, gains or losses on certain legal settlements, business acquisition and integration costs and purchase accounting adjustments, operational process engineering-related consultancy costs and executive transition charges.

We present Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations because it is a key measure used by our management team to evaluate our operating performance, generate future operating plans, make strategic decisions and incentivize and reward our employees. Accordingly, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management team and Board of Directors. We also believe that using Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations facilitates operating performance comparisons on a period-to-period basis because it excludes variations primarily caused by changes in the items noted above. In addition, our chief operating decision maker, who is our President and Chief Executive Officer, uses Adjusted EBITDA of each reportable segment to evaluate the operating performance of such segments.

Our use of Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Instead, you should consider it alongside other financial performance measures, including our net (loss) income and other GAAP results. In addition, in evaluating Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations, you should be aware that in the future we will incur expenses such as those that are the subject of adjustments made in deriving Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations, and you should not infer from our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations that our future results will not be affected by these expenses or any unusual or non-recurring items. The following is a reconciliation of our net (loss) income from continuing operations, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, to Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations for each of the years indicated:

Results of Operations

The following discussion compares our results of operations for 2023 with 2022 and 2022 with 2021:

Comparison of Results of Operations for 2023 with 2022

Consolidated Results