We are a consumer products company and believe that our success depends, in part, on our ability to leverage our existing brands and products to drive increased sales and profits. This depends on our ability to identify and offer products at attractive prices that appeal to consumer tastes and preferences, which are difficult to predict and evolve over time. Our ability to implement this strategy depends on, among other things, our ability to:

Many of our customers are large and possess significant market leverage, which results in significant downward pricing pressure and can constrain our ability to pass through price increases. We generally sell our branded products pursuant to informal trading policies and our store brand products under one year or multi-year agreements. We do not have written agreements with manymost of our customers. Our contracts generally do not obligate the customer to purchase any given amount of product. If our major customers reduce purchasing volumes or stop purchasing our products for any reason, our business and results of operations would likely be materially and adversely affected. It is possible that we will lose customers, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We operate in competitive markets. Our main competitors include The Clorox Company, S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Poly-America, Handi-Foil Corporation, Republic Plastics, Ltd., Trinidad Benham Corporation and Inteplast Group, Ltd. Although capital costs, intellectual property and technology may create barriers to entry, we face the threat of competition from new entrants to our markets as well as from existing competitors, including competitors outside the United States who may have lower production costs. Our customers continuously evaluate their suppliers, often resulting in downward pricing pressure and increased pressure to continuously introduce and commercialize innovative new products, improve customer service, maintain strong relationships with our customers and, where applicable, develop and maintain brands that are meaningful to consumers. If our products fail to compete successfully with other branded or private label offerings, demand for our products and our sales and profitability could be negatively impacted.

Some of our products are manufactured at a single location. For example, our Malvern, Arkansas plant is our sole producer of foil reroll for our Louisville, Kentucky plant,and Wheeling, Illinois plants, which in turn isare our sole producerproducers of household foil. The loss of the use of all or a portion of any of our key manufacturing facilities, especially one that is a sole producer, or the loss of any key suppliers, due to any reason, including an accident, labor issues, weather conditions, natural disaster, the emergence of a pandemic (such as coronavirus)disease outbreak (including epidemics, pandemics or similar widespread public health concerns), cyber-attacks against our information systems (such as ransomware) or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Fluctuations in raw material and energy costs could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Raw material costs represent a significant portion of our cost of sales. The primary raw materials we use are plastic resins, particularly polyethylene and polystyrene, and aluminum. The prices of our raw materials have fluctuated significantly in recent years. Aluminum prices have been historically volatile as aluminum is a cyclical commodity with prices subject to global market factors. Resin prices have also historically fluctuated with changes in crude oil and natural gas prices as well as changes in refining capacity and the demand for other petroleum-based products. We experienced significant increases in material costs in both 2021 and 2022, particularly in resin and aluminum prices, which negatively impacted our results. Significant increases in material costs could also occur in future periods, which could negatively impact our future results.

Raw material costs are also impacted by governmental actions, such as tariffs and trade sanctions. For example, the imposition by the U.S. government of tariffs on products imported from certain countries and trade sanctions against certain countries have introduced greater uncertainty with respect to policies affecting trade between the United States and other countries and have impacted the cost of certain raw materials, including aluminum and resin. Major developments in trade relations, including the imposition of new or increased tariffs by the United States and/or other countries, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are dependent on our suppliers for an uninterrupted supply of key raw materials in a timely manner. The supply of these materials could be disrupted for a wide variety of reasons, including political and economic instability, the financial stability of our suppliers, their ability to meet our standards, labor problems, the availability and prices of raw materials, currency exchange rates, transport availability and cost, transport security and inflation, and other factors beyond our control. We have written contracts with some but not all of our key suppliers, and where we have written contracts, they generally include force majeure clauses that excuse the supplier’s failure to supply in certain circumstances. Any interruption in the supply of raw materials for an extended period of time could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Labor costs in the United States continue to rise, and our industry continues tohas, and could again, experience a shortage of workers. Labor is one of the primary components in the cost of operating our business. If we face labor shortages and incur further increases to labor costs as a result of increased competition for employees, higher employee turnover rates, increases in the federal, state or local minimum wage or other employee benefitsbenefit costs, our operating expenses could increase and our growth and results of operations could be adversely impacted. In 2022, in response to increased labor and other costs, we increased prices in an effort to pass these costs onto our customers. If we continue to increase product prices to cover increased labor and other costs, the higher prices could adversely affect sales volumes.

Our ability to compete successfully depends on our ability to develop and maintain brands that are meaningful to consumers. The development and maintenance of such brands requires significant investment in product innovation, brand-building, advertising and marketing. We focus on developing innovative products to address consumers’ unmet needs and introducing store brand products that emulate other popular branded consumer products, and, as a result, may increase our expenditures for advertising and other brand-building or marketing initiatives. However, these initiatives may not deliver the desired results, which could adversely affect our business and the recoverability of the trade names recorded on our balance sheet, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are a consumer products company and any reduction in consumer demand for the types of products we offer as a result of changes in consumer lifestyle, environmental concerns or other considerations could have a significant impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, there have been recent concerns about the environmental impact of single-use disposable products and products made from plastic, particularly polystyrene foam. These concerns, and the actions taken in response (including regulations banning the sale of certain polystyrene foam products in certain jurisdictions), impact several of our products, especially in our Hefty Tableware segment. Further, a number of governmental authorities, both at the federal, state and local level in the United States and abroad, have implemented, considered, or are expected to consider, additional legislation aimed at reducing the amount of plastic waste, regulating product content and regulating environmental claims. Our business is subject to regulations that govern matters such as post-consumer recycled content, extended producer responsibility, compostability and recyclability claims, and use of PFAS. Future regulatory and legislative change could 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. Sustainability concerns, including the recycling of products, have received increased focus in recent years and are expected to play an increasing role in brand management and consumer purchasing decisions. These changes in consumer lifestyle, environmental concerns or other considerations may result in a decrease in the demand for certain of our current products, an increase in expenditures to attempt to adapt and ourrespond to these concerns, and an inability to respond through innovation or acquisition of assets we do not currently own, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business is impacted by market conditions in the retail industry and consumer demand for our products, which in turn are affected by general economic conditions. Downturns or periods of economic weakness or increased prices in these consumer markets have resulted in the past, and could result in the future, in decreased demand for our products. For example, uncertainty about future economic conditions globally, and in the United States in particular, could lead to declines in consumer spending and consumption and cause our customers to purchase fewer of our products.

Certain ongoing directMarket conditions could also impact our ability to manage our inventory levels to meet customers’ demand for our products. Our production levels and indirect impactsinventory management goals for our products are based on estimates of the COVID-19 pandemic have continued todemand, taking into account production capacity, timing of shipments and inventory levels. If market conditions change, resulting in us overestimating or underestimating demand for any of our products during a given season, we may not maintain appropriate inventory levels, which could materially and adversely affect recent periods. Supply chains at many companies globally continue to be strained due to increased competition for production line capacity, freightour business, financial condition and logistics resources, as well as labor shortages, and shortagesresults of certain materials. In addition, globaloperation.

While we continue to work on various incremental cost savings programs, if we cannot successfully develop and implement cost savings plans, or if the cost of making these changes increases, we will not realize all anticipated benefits, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We operate in mature markets that are subject to high levels of competition. Our future performance and growth depend on innovation and our ability to successfully develop or license capabilities to introduce new products, brands, line extensions 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 consumer demands is essential, especially in light of eCommerce and direct-to-consumer channels significantly reducing the barriers for even small competitors to quickly introduce new brands and products directly to consumers. 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.

Although we have control measures and systems in place that are designed to ensure that the safety and quality of our products are maintained, the consequences of not being able to do so could be severe, including adverse effects on consumer health, our reputation, the loss of customers and market share, financial costs and loss of revenue. If any of our products are found to be defective, we could be required to or may voluntarily recall such products, which could result in adverse publicity, significant expenses and a disruption in sales and could affect our reputation and that of our products. In addition, if any of our competitors or customers supply faulty or contaminated products to the market, our industry could be negatively impacted, which in turn could have adverse effects on our business.

We depend on our senior executive officers and other key personnel to operate our businesses, develop new products and technologies and service our customers. The loss of any of these key personnel could adversely affect our operations. Competition is intense for qualified personnel and the loss of them or an inability to attract, retain and motivate additional highly skilled personnel 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. Additionally, the high U.S. employment levels in our industry in recent years have increased turnover as compared to prior periods at some of our facilities and made hiring and retaining hourly employees more difficult. Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may continue to pursue acquisitions of product linesbrands, businesses, assets or businessestechnologies from third parties. Acquisitions and their pursuits can involve, numerous risks, including, among other things:

We rely on intellectual property rights such as patents, trademarks and copyrights, as well as unpatented proprietary knowledge and trade secrets, to protect our business. However, these rights do not afford complete protection against third parties. For example, patents, trademarks and copyrights are territorial; thus, our business will only be protected by these rights in those jurisdictions in which we have been issued patents or have trademarks or copyrights, or have obtained licenses to use such patents, trademarks or copyrights. Even so, the laws of certain countries may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. Additionally, there can be no assurance that others will not independently develop knowledge and trade secrets that are similar to ours, or develop products or brands that compete effectively with our products and brands without infringing, misusing or otherwise violating any of our intellectual property rights.

We have recorded a significant amount of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets, representing our Reynolds and Hefty trade names, on our balance sheet. We test the carrying values of goodwill and 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 impairment testing could differ from future actual results of operations and cash flows. While we concluded that our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets were not impaired during our annual impairment review performed during the fourth quarter of 2022,2023, future events could cause us to conclude that the goodwill associated with a given reporting unit, or one of our indefinite-lived intangible assets, may have become impaired. Any resulting impairment charge, although non-cash, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Approximately 23% of our employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements. While we believe we have good relationships with our unionized employees and we have not experienced a significant union-related work stoppage over the last ten years, if we encounter difficulties with renegotiations or renewals of collective bargaining arrangements or are unsuccessful in those efforts, we could incur additional costs and experience work stoppages. We cannot predict how stable our union relationships will be or whether we will be able to successfully negotiate successor collective bargaining agreements without impacting our financial condition. In addition, the presence of unions may limit our flexibility in dealing with our workforce. Work stoppages could negatively impact our ability to manufacture our products on a timely basis, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We are subject to the tax laws and regulations of the U.S. federal, state and local governments. From time to time, legislative measures may be enacted that could adversely affect our overall tax positions regarding income or other taxes. There can be no assurance that our effective tax rate or tax payments will not be adversely affected by these legislative measures.

As of December 31, 2022,2023, we had $2,107$1,845 million of outstanding indebtedness under our senior secured term loan facility (“Term Loan Facility”) maturing in 2027 and $243$244 million of borrowing capacity under our senior secured revolving credit facility (“Revolving Facility”) maturing in 20252026 (the Term Loan Facility and the Revolving Facility, the "External“External Debt Facilities"Facilities”). Our debt level and related debt service obligations:

Our debt bears interest at variable rates, and we may incur additional variable interest rate indebtedness in the future. This exposes us to interest rate risk, and while we have entered into a series of interest rate swaps to mitigate the risk of variable rate debt, any interest rate swaps we enter into in order to reduce interest rate volatility may not fully mitigate our interest rate risk. As of December 31, 2022,2023, the unhedged portion of our Term Loan Facility was approximately $957$695 million, and any borrowings under our Revolving Facility are subject to interest rate volatility.

The Federal Reserve recently raisedHigher interest rates multiple times and signaled that they expect additional rate increases. Higher interest ratesduring the year ended December 31, 2023, have increased our debt service obligations on the unhedged variable rate indebtedness, and our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, has correspondingly decreased. Further increases in interest rates on unhedged debt could further reduce our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness.

Our operations are subject to various national, state, local, foreign and international environmental, health and safety laws, regulations and permits that govern, among other things, the emission or discharge of materials into the environment; the use, storage, treatment, disposal, management and release of hazardous substances and wastes; the health and safety of our employees and the end-users of our products; and the materials used in, and the recycling of, our products. These laws and regulations impose liability, which can be adversely affected bystrict, 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 waste for disposal. Non-compliance with, or liability related to, these laws, regulations and permits, which tend to become more stringent over time, could result in substantial fines or penalties, injunctive relief, requirements to install pollution control devices or other controls or equipment, civil or criminal sanctions, permit revocations or modifications and/or facility shutdowns, and could expose us to costs of investigation or remediation, as well as tort claims for property damage or personal injury, and could limit production.

There has been an increased focus from stakeholders and regulators related to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) matters across all industries in recent years. This increased focus and activism related to ESG may hinder our access to capital, as investors may reconsider their capital investment as a result of their assessment of the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority,Company’s ESG practices. In particular, customers, consumers, investors and other stakeholders are increasingly focusing on environmental issues, including climate change, water use, deforestation, plastic waste and other sustainability concerns. Changing consumer preferences may also result in decreased demand for plastics and packaging materials, including single-use and non-recyclable plastic products and packaging, and other components of our products and their environmental impact on sustainability. These demands could impact the profitability of our products, cause us to incur additional costs, to make changes to our operations, or to make additional commitments, set targets or establish additional goals and take actions to meet them, which regulatescould expose us to market, operational and execution costs and risks.

Concern over climate change or plastics and packaging materials, in particular, may result in new or increased legal and regulatory requirements to reduce or mitigate impacts to the entity that calculates LIBOR, announced that LIBOR wasenvironment. Increased regulatory requirements, including in relation to be phased out by the endvarious aspects of 2021. Subsequently, the ICE Benchmark Administration, in its capacity as administrator of USD LIBOR, announced that it extended publication of USD LIBOR (other than one-week and two-month tenors) by 18 months to June 2023. The U.S. Federal Reserve has selected the Secured Overnight Funding Rate ("SOFR")ESG, such as the preferred alternate rate to LIBOR. We are planning for this transitionSEC’s disclosure proposal on climate change and are currently evaluating amendments to our credit agreement to incorporate an alternative benchmark rateCalifornia’s recent enactment of climate-related disclosure laws, or environmental causes may result in replacementincreased compliance costs or input costs of LIBOR.

If we continuedo not adapt to evaluateor comply with new regulations, or fail to meet the potential impactESG goals under our ESG framework or evolving investor, industry or stakeholder expectations and standards, or if we are perceived to have not responded appropriately to the growing concern for ESG issues, customers and consumers may choose to stop purchasing our products or purchase products from another company or a competitor, and our reputation, business or financial condition may be adversely affected.

We are dependent in part on intellectual property rights licensed from third parties. Our licenses of such intellectual property rights may not provide exclusive or unrestricted rights in all fields of use and in all territories in which we may wish to develop or commercialize our products in the future and may restrict our rights to offer certain products in certain markets or impose other obligations that are slightly more than or do not otherwise correlate exactly over time withon us in exchange for our rights to the payments that would have been made on such debt if USD LIBOR was available in its current form, including a potential increase in our overall interest expense on unhedged variable rate indebtedness which is currently based on LIBOR.licensed intellectual property. In addition, whilewe may not have full control over the maintenance, protection or use of in-licensed intellectual property rights, and therefore we may be reliant on our credit agreement provides a mechanism for determining an alternative ratelicensors to conduct such activities.

Packaging Finance Limited (“PFL”) owns the majority of our outstanding common stock. We do not know whether or when PFL will sell shares of our common stock. The sale by PFL or others of a substantial number of shares of our common stock, or a perception that such sales could occur, could significantly reduce the market price of our common stock. The perception of a potential sell-down by PFL could depress the market price of our common stock and make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate.

Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws include provisions that:

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is 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 arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act, the Securities Act of 1933, or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. The choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder��sstockholder’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 contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We intend to continue to pay cash dividends on our common stock on a quarterly basis, subject to the discretion of our board of directors 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 of directors deems relevant. Our ability to pay dividends is restricted by the terms of our External Debt Facilities and may be restricted by the terms of 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 of directors 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, cease paying dividends, and/or declare any periodic special dividends. There can be no assurance that our board of directors will not reduce the amount of regular cash dividends or cause us to cease paying dividends altogether.

We historically operated as part of Pactiv Evergreen Inc. (“PEI”) and its subsidiaries (together with PEI, “PEI Group”). In preparation for our IPO, PEI Group effected certain distributions pursuant to the Corporate Reorganization to transfer its interests in us to PFL in a manner that was intended to qualify as tax-free to PFL and PEI Group under Sections 368(a)(1)(D) and 355 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Code”). PEI received a tax opinion as to the tax treatment of these distributions, which relied on certain facts, assumptions, representations and undertakings from Mr. Graeme Hart, PEI Group and us regarding the past and future conduct of the companies’ respective businesses and other matters. If any of these facts, assumptions, representations or undertakings are incorrect or not otherwise satisfied, PEI may not be able to rely on the opinion of tax counsel and could be subject to significant tax liabilities. Notwithstanding the opinion of tax counsel, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) could determine on audit that these distributions are taxable if it determines that any of these facts, assumptions, representations or undertakings are not correct or have been violated or if it disagrees with the conclusions in the opinion, or for other reasons. If the distributions are determined to be taxable for U.S. federal income tax purposes, PFL, PEI and Pactiv Evergreen Group Holdings Inc. could incur significant U.S. federal income tax liabilities, and we could also incur significant liabilities. Under the tax matters agreement between PEI and us (“Tax Matters Agreement”), we are required to indemnify PEI Group against taxes incurred by them that arise as a result of, among other things, a breach of any representation made by us, including those provided in connection with the opinion of tax counsel or us taking or failing to take, as the case may be, certain actions, in each case, that result in any of the distributions failing to meet the requirements of a tax-free distribution under Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code.

PFL owns and controls the voting power of approximately 74% of our outstanding shares of common stock. Under our stockholders agreement with PFL, PFL is entitled to nominate all of our board of directors so long as it owns at least 50% of our shares, and a majority of our board of directors so long as it owns at least 40% of our shares. Additionally, as long as PFL continues to control a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock, it is generally able to determine the outcome of all corporate actions requiring stockholder approval.

Our affiliation with PEI Group has provided us with increased scale and reach. We have leveraged our combined scale to coordinate purchases across our operations to reduce costs. If we no longer benefit from this relationship, whether because we are no longer affiliated with PEI Group or otherwise, it may result in increased costs for us and higher prices to our customers because we may be unable to obtain goods, services and technology from unaffiliated third parties on terms as favorable as those previously obtained. As a result of any of the above factors, we may be precluded from pursuing certain opportunities that we would otherwise pursue, including growth opportunities, which in turn may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have entered into various transactions with Rank Group Limited (“Rank”) and other related parties that are members of PEI Group, including, among others:

PFL owns and controls the voting power of approximately 74% 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.

PFL controls a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock. As a result, we are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the corporate governance standards of Nasdaq. 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:

We may face competition from a variety of sources, including Pactiv and other members of PEI Group, both today and in the future. For example, while we have supply agreements in place with Pactiv, Pactiv may still compete with us in certain products and/or in certain channels. In addition, while none of the other members of PEI Group currently manufacture or sell products that compete with our products, they may do so in the future, including as a result of acquiring a company that operates as a manufacturer of consumer products. Due to the significant resources of PEI Group, including financial resources and know-how resulting from the previous management of our business, PEI Group could have a significant competitive advantage should it 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 Pactiv has historically sold the products (primarily tableware and cups) that we purchase from it in the foodservice business-to-business channel, after the termination of our supply agreement with Pactiv it could seek to sell such products in the retail channel or otherwise compete with us, especially where we sell private label or store brand products. As our former supplier, Pactiv would have information about products, including pricing that could give it a competitive advantage.

From time to time, certain of our directors may also be directors of PEI or other PEI Group entities. The interests of any such director in PEI, other PEI Group entities and us could create, or appear to create, conflicts of interest with respect to decisions involving both us and PEI or PEI Group entities that could have different implications for PEI and us. These decisions could, for example, relate to:

Potential conflicts or disputes may arise between PEI Group, PFL or Rank and us in a number of areas relating to our past or ongoing relationships, including:

Our business is largely impacted by the demands of our customers, and our success depends on our ability to anticipate and respond to changes in consumer preferences. Our products are household staples with a presence in 95% of households across the United States.

Our business is impacted by fluctuations in the prices of the raw materials, energy and freight costs incurred in manufacturing and distributing our products as well as fluctuations in labor and logistics costs related thereto.costs. The primary raw materials used to manufacture our products are plastic resins and aluminum, and we also use commodity chemicals and energy. We are exposed to commodity and other price risk principally from the purchase of resin, aluminum, natural gas, electricity, carton board and diesel. We distribute our products and receive raw materials primarily by rail and truck, which exposes us to fluctuations in labor, freight and handling costs caused by reduced rail and trucking capacity. Sales contracts for our products typically do not contain pass-through mechanisms for raw material, energy, labor and freight cost changes, but we adjust prices, where possible, in response to such price fluctuations.

We operate in a marketplace influenced by large retailers with strong negotiating power over their suppliers. Current trends among these large retailers include increased demand for innovative new products from suppliers, requiring suppliers to maintain or reduce product prices and to deliver products within shorter lead times. We also face the threat of competition from new entrants to our markets as well as from existing competitors, including those overseas who may have lower production costs. In addition, the timing and amount in which our competitors invest in advertising and promotional spending may vary from quarter to quarter and impact our sales volumes and financial results. See “Business - Competition” for more detail on our competitors.

Portions of our business historically have been moderately seasonal. Overall, our strongest sales are in our fourth quarter and our weakest sales are in our first quarter. This is driven by higher levels of sales of cooking products around major U.S. holidays in our fourth quarter, primarily due to the holiday use of Reynolds Wrap, Reynolds Oven Bags, Reynolds Parchment Paper and disposable aluminum pans. Our tableware products generally have higher sales in the second quarter of the year, primarily due to outdoor summertime use of disposable plates, cups and bowls.

Interest in environmental sustainability has increased over the past decade, and it has played, and we expect it will continue to play, an increasing role in consumer purchasing decisions. For instance, there have been recent concerns about the environmental impact of single-use disposable products and products made from plastic, particularly polystyrene foam, affecting our products, especially our Hefty Tableware segment. While there is a focus on environmentally friendly products, survey results indicate that in most of our product categories, consumers continue to rank performance-related purchase criteria, such as durability and ease of use, followed by price, as top considerations, rather than sustainability. As our consumers may shift towards purchasing more sustainable products, we have focused much of our innovation efforts around sustainability. We offer a broad line of products made with recycled, renewable, recyclable and compostable materials. We intend to continue sustainability innovation in our efforts to be at the leading edge of recyclability, renewability and compostability in order to offer our customers environmentally sustainable choices.

Net cash from operating activities decreasedincreased by $91$425 million, or 29%194%, to $219$644 million. The decreaseincrease was primarily driven by lower net incomeimproved earnings and higher investment in netthe benefit of various working capital partially offset by lower net cash outlays related to employee costs in the current year period compared to the prior year period.reduction initiatives.

Net cash used in investing activities decreased by $13$18 million, or 9%14%, to $128$110 million. The decrease was driven primarily by a purchase of a previously leased manufacturing facility in the prior year period that did not repeat in the current year period.decreased cash outlays for capital expenditures.

Net cash used in financing activities decreasedincreased by $100$240 million, or 32%111%, to $217.$457 million. The decrease in cash flows from financing activitiesincrease was primarily attributable to a voluntary payment of debtprincipal payments related to our Term Loan Facility that were made inthroughout the prior year period that did not repeat in the current year period.ended December 31, 2023.

OnIn February 4, 2020, in conjunction with our Corporate Reorganization and IPO, we entered into the External Debt Facilities which consistconsists of a $2,475 million Term Loan Facility and a Revolving Facility that provides for additional borrowing capacity of up to $250 million, reduced by amounts used for letters of credit. In February 2023, we amended the External Debt Facilities (“Amendment No. 1”) which replaced the benchmark from the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”). Additionally, in November 2023, we further amended the External Debt Facilities (“Amendment No. 2”) to extend the maturity date of the Revolving Facility by one year. Other than the foregoing, the material terms of the External Debt Facilities, as amended by Amendment No. 1 and Amendment No. 2 (“Amended External Debt Facilities”) remain unchanged.

Borrowings under the Amended External Debt Facilities bear interest at a rate per annum equal to, at our option, either a base rate plus an applicable margin of 0.75% or a LIBOSOFR rate plus an applicable margin of 1.75%.

The Term Loan Facility contains customary mandatory prepayments, including with respect to excess cash flow, asset sale proceeds and proceeds from certain incurrences of indebtedness.

The Term Loan Facility matures in February 2027. The Term Loan Facility amortizes in equal quarterly installments of $6 million, which commenced in June 2020, with the balance payable on maturity. TheDuring the year ended December 31, 2023, we made voluntary principal payments of $250 million related to our Term Loan Facility, which were first applied to pay the remaining quarterly amortization payments in full, with the residual balance applied to the outstanding principal balance due at maturity.

As amended, the Revolving Facility matures in February 2025.2026.

All obligations under the Amended External Debt Facilities and certain hedge agreements and cash management arrangements provided by any lender party to the Amended External Debt Facilities or any of its affiliates and certain other persons are unconditionally guaranteed by Reynolds Consumer Products Inc. (“RCPI”), the Borrower (with respect to hedge agreements and cash management arrangements not entered into by the Borrower) and certain of RCPI’s existing and subsequently acquired or organized direct or indirect material wholly-owned U.S. restricted subsidiaries, with customary exceptions including, among other things, where providing such guarantees is not permitted by law, regulation or contract or would result in material adverse tax consequences.

The Amended External Debt Facilities contain a number of covenants that, among other things, restrict, subject to certain exceptions, our ability and the ability of the restricted subsidiaries of RCPI to:

We routinely commit to one-time or ongoing trade-promotion programs with our customers. Programs include discounts, allowances, shelf-price reductions, end-of-aisle or in-store displays of our products and graphics and other trade-promotion activities conducted by the customer, such as coupons. Collectively, we refer to these as sales incentives or trade promotions. Costs related to these programs are recorded as a reduction to revenue. Our trade promotion accruals are primarily based on estimated volume and incorporate historical sales and spending trends by customer and category. The determination of these estimated accruals requires judgment and may change in the future as a result of changes in customer promotion participation, particularly for new programs and for programs related to the introduction of new products. Final determination of the total cost of a promotion is dependent upon customers providing information about proof of performance and other information related to the promotional event. This process of analyzing and settling trade-promotion programs with customers could impact our results of operations and trade promotion accruals depending on how actual results of the programs compare to original estimates. Sales incentives represented 4%5%, 4%, and 5%4% of total net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 2021 and 2020,2021, respectively. As of December 31, 20222023 and 2021,2022, we had accruals of $38$40 million and $40$38 million, respectively, reflected on our consolidated balance sheets in Accrued and other current liabilities related to sales incentive programs.

We test our goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually in the fiscal fourth quarter unless there are indications during a different interim period that these assets may have become impaired. No impairments were identified as a result of our impairment review performed annually during the fourth quarter of fiscal years 2023, 2022 2021 and 2020.2021.

Our reporting units for goodwill impairment testing purposes are Reynolds Cooking & Baking, Hefty Waste & Storage, Hefty Tableware and Presto Products. No instances of impairment were identified during the fiscal year 20222023 annual impairment review. All of our reporting units had fair values that significantly exceeded recorded carrying values. However, future changes in the judgments, assumptions and estimates that are used in the impairment testing for goodwill as described below could result in significantly different estimates of the fair values.

Our indefinite-lived intangible assets consist of certain trade names. We test indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment on an annual basis in the fourth quarter and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. We have the option to first assess qualitative factors such as the maturity of the trade name, the magnitude of the excess fair value over carrying value from the prior year’s impairment testing, as well as new events and circumstances impacting the trade name. If the result of a qualitative test indicates a potential for impairment, or if we voluntarily elect, a quantitative test is performed. If the carrying amount of such asset exceeds its estimated fair value, an impairment charge is recorded for the difference between the carrying amount and the estimated fair value. When a quantitative test is performed we use a relief from royalty computation under the income approach to estimate the fair value of our trade names. This approach requires significant judgments in determining (i) the estimated future branded revenue from the use of the asset; (ii) the relevant royalty rate to be applied to these estimated future cash flows; and (iii) the appropriate discount rates applied to those cash flows to determine fair value. Changes in such estimates or the use of alternative assumptions could produce different results. No instances of impairment were identified during the fiscal year 20222023 annual impairment review. Each of our indefinite-lived intangible assets had fair values that significantly exceeded recorded carrying values.

Long-lived assets, including finite-lived intangible assets, are reviewed for possible impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances occur that indicate that the carrying amount of an asset (or asset group) may not be recoverable. Our impairment review requires significant management judgment, including estimating the future success of product lines, future sales volumes, revenue and expense growth rates, alternative uses for the assets and estimated proceeds from the disposal of the assets. We review business plans for possible impairment indicators. Impairment occurs when the carrying amount of the asset (or asset group) exceeds its estimated future undiscounted cash flows. When impairment is indicated, an impairment charge is recorded for the difference between the asset’s carrying value and its estimated fair value. Depending on the asset, estimated fair value may be determined either by use of a discounted cash flow model or by reference to estimated selling values of assets in similar condition. The use of different assumptions would increase or decrease the estimated fair value of assets and would increase or decrease any impairment measurement.

We had significant variable rate debt commitments outstanding as of December 31, 2022,2023, which accrue interest at the LIBOSOFR rate plus an applicable margin of 1.75%. These on-balance sheet financial instruments expose us to interest rate risk.

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (i) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (ii) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.