What changed in this filing

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Item 1. Business

2024-02-29 compared with 2023-02-28 · 201 added, 183 removed, 256 unchanged (60% of the section changed)

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(“PQ Group Holdings”) was incorporated in Delaware on August 7, 2015.

We trace our roots to 1831, and our business has a nearly 200-year history of innovation, enabling environmental improvements in areas such as fuel efficiency and emissions, while improving the sustainability of our planet.

We trace our roots to the late 1800’s with our first sulfuric acid plant and the beginning of our oldest customer relationship.

Our business has a history of innovation, enabling environmental improvements in areas such as fuel efficiency, sustainable fuels and the abatement of emissions from heavy-duty diesel engines, while improving the sustainability of our planet.

On May 4, 2016, we consummated a series of transactions (the “Business Combination”) to reorganize and combine the then-existing businesses with Eco Services Operations LLC under a new holdings company, then called PQ Group Holdings.

On October 3, 2017, we completed our initial public offering (“IPO”).

On August 1, 2021, we changed our name from “PQ Group Holdings Inc.” to “Ecovyst Inc.,” changed the ticker symbol of our common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange from “PQG” to “ECVT” and rebranded our former segments from “Refining Services” to “Ecoservices” and “Catalysts” to “Catalyst Technologies.” Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock ticker “ECVT.” Unless the context otherwise indicates, the terms “Ecovyst Inc.,” “we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Company” mean Ecovyst Inc.

and our subsidiaries.

On December 14, 2020, we completed the sale of our Performance Materials business to Potters Buyer, LLC (the “Purchaser”), an affiliate of The Jordan Company, L.P., for a purchase price of $650 million, which was subject to certain adjustments for indebtedness, working capital, and cash at the closing of the transaction.

The results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows for the Performance Materials businesses are presented herein as discontinued operations.

Except where noted, any tables, percentages or metrics included within this filing exclude the results of our former Performance Materials business.

Additionally, our Board of Directors (the “Board”) declared a special cash dividend of $1.80 per share, payable on December 14, 2020 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on December 21, 2020.

Refer to Note 4 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.

Effective on August 1, 2021, we completed the sale of our Performance Chemicals business for $1.1 billion, subject to certain adjustments set forth in the agreement.

We used a portion of the net cash proceeds to repay the entire 2018 Term Loan Facility (as defined below) of $231.4 million and the 5.75% Senior Unsecured Notes (as defined below) of $295.0 million.

The 5.75% Senior Unsecured Notes were redeemed at a redemption price equal to the sum of 102.875% of the principal amount of the 5.75% Senior Unsecured Notes plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, August 2, 2021.

Additionally, our Board declared a special cash dividend of $3.20 per share, payable on August 23, 2021 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 12, 2021.

The results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows for the Performance Chemicals business are presented herein as discontinued operations.

On December 14, 2020, we completed the sale of our Performance Materials business to Potters Buyer, LLC, an affiliate of The Jordan Company, L.P.

Effective on August 1, 2021, we completed the sale of our Performance Chemicals business to Sparta Aggregator L.P., a partnership with Koch Minerals & Trading, LLC and Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.

The results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows for the Performance Materials and Performance Chemicals businesses are presented herein as discontinued operations for the 2022 and 2021 periods presented.

Refer to Note 4 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information.

We are a leading, integrated and innovative global provider of specialty catalysts and services.

We believe that our products, which are predominantly inorganic, and services contribute to improving the sustainability of the environment.

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock ticker “ECVT”.

On November 28, 2023, the Company renamed the “Catalyst Technologies” segment to "Advanced Materials & Catalysts”.

Unless the context otherwise indicates, the terms “Ecovyst Inc.,” “we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Company” mean Ecovyst Inc.

and our subsidiaries.

We are a leading integrated and innovative global provider of advanced materials, specialty catalysts and services.

We believe that our products and services contribute to improving the sustainability of the environment.

Our value-added products seek to address global demand trends that are often either the subject of significant environmental and safety regulations or are driven by consumer preferences for more sustainable products, which provides us with high-margin growth opportunities.

We believe that our products contribute to lower emissions and cleaner air, higher fuel efficiency and cleaner fuels, and help advance the global transition to clean energy.

Specifically, our products and solutions help companies in the production of renewable fuels and help to produce vehicles with improved fuel efficiency and cleaner emissions.

Because our products are predominantly inorganic and carbon-free, we believe we contribute to improving the sustainability of our planet.

We believe we are a leader in each of our business segments, holding what we estimate to be a number one or number two supply share position for products that generated more than 90% of our 2022 sales and our proportionate 50% share of sales attributable to the Zeolyst JV, respectively.

We believe that our products contribute to lower emissions and cleaner air, higher fuel efficiency and cleaner fuels, and key enablers to advance the global transition to clean energy.

Specifically, our products and solutions help companies in the production of sustainable fuels and help to produce vehicles with improved fuel efficiency and cleaner emissions.

We believe that our global footprint and efficient network of strategically located manufacturing facilities provide us with a strong competitive advantage in serving our customers both regionally as well as globally.

We believe, with our long history of established partnerships with our customers and our reputation for providing reliable, quality of products and solutions, our products deliver significant value to our customers, as demonstrated by our profit margins.

Our products typically constitute a small portion of our customers’ overall end-product costs, yet are critical to product performance.

We believe, with our long history of customer partnerships and our reputation for providing reliable, quality of products and solutions, our products deliver significant value to our customers, as demonstrated by our profit margins.

We have a long track record of innovation that is reflected in our technical and production expertise in silica, zeolites and catalyst technologies.

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In 2023, we served global customers across many end uses and as of December 31, 2023, operated out of ten strategically located manufacturing facilities.

(1) Percentage calculations include $132.6 million of sales attributable to the Zeolyst Joint Venture (“Zeolyst JV”), which represents 50% of its total sales for the year ended December 31, 2022.

The Zeolyst JV sales are included in both the Clean Fuels, Emission Control & Others and Polymers & Engineered Plastics end uses.

Refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Basis of Presentation” for a description of the treatment of the Zeolyst Joint Venture in our consolidated financial information.

(2) Based on the delivery destination for products sold in 2022.

We intend to capitalize on our strong business foundation, sustainability driven innovation and customer partnerships to grow sales, maintain high margins, deploy capital efficiently and generate consistent free cash flow in order to create shareholder value.

We intend to capitalize on our strong business fundamentals, sustainability driven innovation and customer partnerships to grow sales, maintain high margins, deploy capital efficiently and generate consistent free cash flow in order to create shareholder value.

We believe that our long history of operational excellence and proven reliability, technology leadership, strong customer relationships, innovation track record and consistent business execution developed from our industry experience positions us well to execute our business strategy.

Our industry is characterized by constant development of new products and the need to support customers with new product innovation and technical services.

This innovation is coupled with consistent product quality and a reliable source of supply, delivered in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner.

Products sold to our customers can be high value-add even when they represent a small portion of the overall end product costs, and success can be achieved by helping customers improve their product performance, value, and quality.

As a result, operating margins in this sector have historically been high and generally stable through economic cycles.

In addition, many products in the specialty chemicals industry benefit from economics that favor incumbent producers because the capital cost to expand existing capacity is typically significantly less than the capital cost necessary to build a new plant.

The combination of attractive operating margins and generally predictable maintenance capital expenditure requirements provides the ability to produce attractive cash flows.

Our industry is characterized by a strong commitment to innovate and to develop enhanced performance and solutions that improve environmental, health and sustainability.

In turn, this drives Ecovyst to constantly develop new products and the need to support our customers with new product innovation and technical services.

Our innovation is strongly focused on customer partnerships.

We believe a key capability is our ability to go from laboratory to pilot to full scale production with both the speed and consistency required for our customers’ demand for our products.

Products that we sell to our customers are often high value-add, even when they represent a small portion of the overall end product costs, and we believe success can be achieved by helping customers improve their product performance, value and quality.

We believe many of the end uses that we serve are generally more resilient to economic cycles, minimizing extreme fluctuations in demand.

In addition, many products have relatively high switching costs, including the risk of quality failures, thus making it more beneficial for customers to work with incumbent producers.

In addition, the capital cost to expand existing capacity is typically significantly less than the capital cost necessary to build a new plant.

We believe the combination of attractive operating margins, growing end uses and generally predictable maintenance capital expenditure requirements improves our ability to generate attractive cash flows.

Our Product End Uses

The table below summarizes our key end use applications and products, as well as the significant growth drivers in those applications.

Sales including Zeolyst JV

Total Sales (1)

Key End Uses Significant Growth Drivers Key Products

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• Refining hydrocracking catalysts

• Remove sulfur from diesel and gasoline • Emission control catalysts

• Remove nitrogen oxides from tailpipe emissions • Catalysts used in the production of renewable fuels

• Growing demand for renewable fuels • Catalyst activation

• Growing demand for ex-situ catalyst activation to support traditional and renewable fuels production • Aluminum sulfate solution

• Improve lubricant characteristics to improve fuel efficiencies • Ammonium bisulfite solution

• Municipal and industrial water treatment

Polymers & Engineered Plastics 15% 17% 19% • Demand for high-density polyethylene used for strengthening and light weighting components • Catalysts for high-density polyethylene and chemicals syntheses

• Demand for increased process efficiency and reduction of by-products in production chemicals • Antiblocks for film packaging

• Growing demand for recycling of materials • Niche custom catalyst

• Reduce sulfur from diesel and gasoline • Emission control catalyst supports

• Remove nitrogen oxides from tailpipe emissions • Catalyst supports used in the production of sustainable fuels such as renewable diesel

• Growing demand for sustainable fuels • Catalyst used in the production of sustainable aviation fuels

• Growing demand for ex-situ catalyst activation to support traditional and sustainability fuels production • Catalyst activation

• Improve lubricant characteristics to improve fuel efficiencies • Aluminum sulfate solution

• Municipal and industrial water treatment • Ammonium bisulfite solution

Polyethylene, Polymers & Engineered Plastics • Demand for high-density polyethylene used for strengthening and light weighting components • Catalysts for high-density polyethylene and chemicals syntheses

• Demand for durable packaging • Antiblock for film packaging

• Growing demand for recycling of materials • Catalyst for advanced recycling

Regeneration and Treatment Services • Increase gasoline octane in order to improve fuel efficiency while lowering vapor pressure and sulfur to regulated levels • Sulfuric acid regeneration services

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copper production • Sulfur derivatives for nylon production

(1) Percentage calculations include $132.6 million, $131.3 million and $128.6 million of sales attributable to the Zeolyst JV, which represents 50% of its total sales for each of the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

The Zeolyst JV sales are included in both the Clean Fuels, Emission Control & Other and Polymers & Engineered Plastics key end uses.

December 31, 2023 December 31, 2022 December 31, 2021

Key End Uses Sales % of Sales Zeolyst JV Sales (1)

% of Zeolyst JV sales (2)

Sales % of Sales Zeolyst JV Sales (1)

% of Zeolyst JV sales (2)

Sales % of Sales Zeolyst JV Sales (1)

% of Zeolyst JV sales (2)

Clean Fuels, Emission Control & Other

Ecovyst $ 29.9 4.0 % $ — — % $ 29.0 4.0 % $ — — % $ 25.7 4.0 % $ — — %

Zeolyst Catalyst — — % 127.0 81.0 % — — % 103.4 78.0 % — — % 113.8 87.0 %

Polyethylene, Polymers & Engineered Plastics

Ecovyst $ 106.2 15.0 % $ — — % $ 117.7 14.0 % $ — — % $ 110.7 18.0 % $ — — %

Zeolyst Catalyst — — % 29.5 19.0 % — — % 29.2 22.0 % — — % 17.5 13.0 %

Regeneration and Treatment Services

Ecovyst $ 354.6 52.0 % $ — — % $ 342.6 42.0 % $ — — % $ 262.0 43.0 % $ — — %

Zeolyst Catalyst — — % — — % — — % — — % — — % — — %

Industrial, Mining & Automotive

Ecovyst $ 200.4 29.0 % $ — — % $ 330.9 40.0 % $ — — % $ 212.8 35.0 % $ — — %

Zeolyst Catalyst — — % — — % — — % — — % — — % — — %

Total $ 691.1 $ 156.5 $ 820.2 $ 132.6 $ 611.2 $ 131.3

(1) Represents 50% of the Zeolyst Joint Venture (the “Zeolyst Joint Venture” or “Zeolyst JV”) sales for each of the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

Refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Basis of Presentation” for a description of the treatment of the Zeolyst JV in our consolidated financial information.

(2) Percentage calculations are based on $156.5 million, $132.6 million and $131.3 million of sales attributable to the Zeolyst Joint Venture, which represents 50% of its total sales for each of the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Competitive Business Strengths

Favorable Secular Growth Trends Across the Portfolio

We focus on serving end use applications where we believe significant growth potential exists.

Our products and services address our customers’ needs, which are typically driven either by regulatory requirements or consumer preferences, on a global basis.

We believe that our products and services incorporate innovative environmental and safety solutions to address evolving customer demands, examples of which include the following:

• Increased use of plastics as a substitute for heavier and less versatile materials, such as glass and metal, is driving increased global demand for polyethylene capacity expansions and production.

Further, we are seeing expansions shift towards silica-based technology, which we believe will drive growth for our Silica Catalysts product group within our Catalyst Technologies segment;

• Light- and heavy-duty diesel engines are subject to a broad set of regulatory requirements and increasingly strict standards.

We focus on serving end use applications where we believe our competencies can create value adding solutions and where significant growth potential exists.

Our products and services address our customers’ needs, which are typically driven globally by regulatory requirements, consumer preferences or sustainability trends.

We believe that our products and services incorporate innovative environmental, sustainability and safety solutions to address evolving customer demands, examples of which include the following:

• Increased use of polyethylene-based plastics as a substitute for heavier and less versatile materials and increasing consumption of plastics is driving increased global demand for polyethylene production and also capacity expansions.

Further, we are seeing a shift towards silica-based technology, which we believe will drive growth for our Advanced Silicas product group within our Advanced Materials & Catalysts segment.

• Acceleration of global commitments to increase the recycling of plastics.

Within our Zeolyst Joint Venture, our zeolite-based catalysts help improve the efficiency of thermal pyrolysis.

We are partnering with technology licensors to help enable the advanced recycling of plastics.

• The decarbonization of heavy-duty trucking and aviation industries by using sustainability fuels.

Our Zeolyst Joint Venture leverages our knowledge of lubricant dewaxing to develop products that efficiently dewax renewable diesel.

Dewaxing is a process where longer chain hydrocarbons are broken down into chain lengths that remain liquid at colder temperatures allowing fuel flow in trucks during colder temperatures.

Legislative drivers and financial incentives are leading to rapid capacity builds at our customers, driving demand for our products.

For the production of sustainable aviation fuel, our specialty zeolites are used in the hydrocracking and dewaxing steps, enabling the fuel quality required for sustainable aviation fuel to be produced.

In addition, some manufacturing processes involve converting alcohol into jet fuel where our zeolites catalyze the building or oligomerization of molecules into longer chains that more efficiently combust to generate power.

• Light- and heavy-duty diesel engines are subject to a broad set of regulatory requirements and increasingly strict emission standards.

We believe these trends present global opportunities for the Zeolyst Joint Venture to support our customers in meeting these standards through our sales of emission control catalysts.

While the US Environmental Protection Agency and European Union have led other nations in terms of standards that limit the amount of nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and other emissions for diesel engines, other emerging regions are implementing similar standards, specifically China, with the China VI (equivalent to Euro VI) emission standard enacted in 2020.

We believe that stringent fuel efficiency standards that spur the use of high compression engines requiring higher-octane gasoline and continued stringent regulatory requirements for gasoline will continue to encourage strong alklyate production at our refining customers.

Legislative efforts continue to reduce acceptable emission profiles, including a focus on cold start conditions, which we believe create positive opportunities for zeolite-based technologies along with other solutions that customers benchmark to develop their preferred solution.

We believe that our Ecoservices segment is well positioned to benefit from any related growth in demand for alkylate.

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Our Ecoservices segment is the largest North American recycler of sulfuric acid and one of the largest consumers of refinery by-products of sulfur, enabling them to be converted to other applications.

In our Catalyst Technologies segment, we are helping our customers meet evolving regulatory requirements for the reduction of sulfur from diesel fuel and reduction of NOx emissions from diesel engines through our custom zeolites.

Similarly, we believe our specialty zeolites and silica supported catalysts are enabling our customers to improve fuel economy and utilize renewable resources through development of improved lubricants, lightweight polymers and renewable transportation fuel.

Leading Supply Positions

We believe that we maintain a leading supply position for certain products sold within each of our segments, holding what we estimate to be the number one or two supply share position in 2022 for products that generated more than 90% of our sales and our proportionate 50% share of sales attributable to the Zeolyst JV, respectively.

We believe that we maintain a leading supply position for certain products sold within each of our segments, holding what we estimate to be the number one or two supply share position in 2023 for products that generated more than 90% of our sales.

We believe that our global footprint and efficient network of strategically located manufacturing facilities provides us with a strong competitive advantage in serving our customers both globally and regionally, and that it would be costly for our competitors to replicate our network.

In our Catalyst Technologies segment, we primarily compete on a global basis.

We are a leading supplier of zeolite-based catalyst used to remove sulfur in the refinery hydrocracking process, and emission control catalysts used in the heavy- and light-duty diesel industries to reduce nitrogen oxides emissions.

We are also a global supplier of silica catalysts and supports for polyethylene manufacturers and other niche custom catalyst applications, including supplying catalyst used to produce methyl methacrylate (“MMA”).

In our Ecoservices segment, we hold an estimated number one supply share position in the United States in sulfuric acid regeneration services based on 2022 sales volume of greater than 50%.

In our Advanced Materials & Catalysts segment, we primarily compete on a global basis.

We are a leading supplier of zeolites used for catalysts that support the production of sustainable fuels, zeolite-based catalyst used to remove sulfur in the refinery hydrocracking process and emission control catalysts used in the heavy- and light-duty diesel industries to reduce nitrogen oxides emissions.

We are a global supplier of silicas-based advanced materials and supports for polyethylene manufacturers and custom catalyst applications, including catalyst used to produce methyl methacrylate (“MMA”), bio-butadiene and bio-catalysis used to immobilize enzymes onto silica supports.

Innovation Track Record

We believe a key competitive advantage is derived from our depth of expertise in silica, zeolites and catalysts technologies.

Further, we have the ability to tailor and scale specialty grades to meet changing demands and technical support for large scale commercialization.

We believe a key competitive advantage is derived from our depth of expertise in creating and modifying advanced materials based on silica and zeolite technologies.

We believe we capture value through customer collaboration.

We have the ability to tailor and scale custom advanced materials to meet changing demands and to provide technical support for large scale commercialization.

Many of our products require close customer collaboration to address constantly evolving customer application challenges.

Given the long lead-time required for product development and commercialization, which can be up to ten years, we work closely and build long-term relationships with our customers.

Given the long lead-time required for product development and commercialization, we work closely and build long-term relationships with our customers.

In many cases, our relationships have spanned decades given our ability to meet customized specifications and performance characteristics while also maintaining strict quality standards.

These long-term relationships have allowed us to innovate together with our customers to meet evolving demands.

For example, we have developed zeolite-based catalysts that are an effective and efficient method to reduce pollutants from heavy- and light-duty diesel engines and enable our customers to meet increasingly stringent vehicle emission standards worldwide.

We also manufacture zeolite-based catalysts used in the production of renewable fuels to help advance the global transition to clean energy.

In addition, our proprietary silica catalyst has enabled development of a high strength high-density polyethylene (“HDPE”) resin that is used for making lightweight plastic gasoline tanks for automobiles.

For example, we have developed zeolite-based catalysts that are effective and efficient at reducing pollutants from heavy- and light-duty diesel engines, enabling our customers to meet increasingly stringent vehicle emission standards worldwide.

We manufacture zeolite-based advanced materials used in the production of sustainable fuels to help advance the global transition to clean energy and to enable advanced recycling of plastics through the catalyzed thermal pyrolysis of plastic wastes.

Our proprietary silica-based advanced materials have enabled development of a high strength high-density polyethylene (“HDPE”) resin that is used for making lightweight plastic gasoline tanks for automobiles and enables everyday items such as plastic containers and piping used to construct new buildings.

In addition, we participate in bio-catalysis where our advanced silica-based materials are used to immobilize enzymes and to enable CO 2 capture and storage.

Long-Term, High Quality Customer Relationships

We collaborate with leading multinational companies that often seek global solutions.

Our customers include large industrial companies such as Exxon Mobil, BASF and Chevron Products, and global catalyst producers such as Albemarle and Grace.

We also supply catalysts to leading chemical and petrochemical producers such as BASF, Dow Chemical, Mitsubishi Chemical, LyondellBasell and Shell.

Our customers include large industrial companies such as ExxonMobil, and global catalyst producers such as UOP and Grace.

We also supply catalysts to leading chemical and petrochemical producers such Dow Chemical, Mitsubishi Chemical, LyondellBasell, CP Chemicals, Valero, Motiva, Saudi Aramco and Shell.

We have long-term relationships with our top ten customers, based on 2023 sales, that average more than 50 years.

In addition, our customer base is diversified, with our top ten customers in 2022 representing approximately 58% of our sales for the year ended December 31, 2022 (including our proportionate 50% share of sales attributable to the Zeolyst JV), and one customer representing 13% or $103.3 million of our sales in both our Ecoservices and Catalyst Technologies businesses during this period.

In addition, our customer base is diversified, with our top ten customers in 2023 representing approximately 60% of our sales for the year ended December 31, 2023, and one customer representing 13% or $91.5 million of our sales in both our Ecoservices and Advanced Materials & Catalysts businesses during this period.

Secured Contractual Pass-through of Raw Material Costs Support Stable Margins

We have been able to mitigate the impact of raw material or energy price volatility using a variety of mechanisms, including hedging and raw material cost pass-through mechanisms in our sales contracts and other adjustment provisions.

We have been able to mitigate the impact of raw material or energy price volatility using a variety of mechanisms, including raw material cost pass-through mechanisms in our sale contracts and other adjustment provisions.

Most of our Ecoservices contracts feature minimum volume protection and/or quarterly price adjustments for items such as commodity inputs, labor, the Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index and natural gas.

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Freight expenses are generally passed through directly to customers.

Our products are predominantly inorganic and carbon-free, and are produced from readily available raw materials.

Our products are produced from readily available raw materials.

We also use natural gas in our manufacturing process where our North American facilities have benefited from the plentiful supplies of shale gas.

In addition, we have long-term contracts and relationships with many of our key raw materials suppliers across all of our business segments.

In addition, we have long-term contracts and relationships with many of our key raw material suppliers across all of our business segments.

Long-Term Customer Contracts Enhance Sales Predictability and Stability

We partner with many of our customers under long-term contract agreements, 100% requirement arrangements and/or specified products for certain license production processes.

In our Ecoservices segment, approximately 40% of our production capacity serves customers with staggered multi-year commitment contracts with potential for value pricing resets and cost pass-through for our regeneration services product line that enhances sales and margin predictability and stability.

In our Ecoservices segment, approximately 50% of our production capacity serve customers with staggered multi-year commitment contracts with potential for value pricing resets and cost pass-through for our regeneration services product line that enhances sales and margin predictability and stability.

Excluding contracts with automatic evergreen provisions, approximately 20% of our sulfuric acid volume for the year ended December 31, 2023 was under contracts expiring at the end of 2024 or beyond.

In our Catalyst Technologies segment, we are either the sole or dual supplier to key global customers under various term agreements up to 10 years for each of polyethylene catalysts and silica catalysts supports.

In our Advanced Materials & Catalysts segment, we are either the sole or dual supplier to key global customers under various term agreements up to 10 years for polyethylene catalysts and advanced silicas supports.

Further, we have a multi-year supply agreement for MMA catalyst with a leading global producer.

In our zeolite catalysts product group, where we supply catalysts and zeolite powders for refining, renewable fuels, and emission controls applications, we operate with a mix of evergreen and various term contracts depending on the product customization.

In our Zeolyst Joint Venture, where we supply catalysts and zeolite powders for refining, sustainable fuels, and emission controls applications, we operate with a mix of evergreen and various term contracts depending on the product customization.

These terms, in line with industry standards, provide us with flexibility in satisfying customers.

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Since then, we have leveraged our process technology expertise and ability to deliver our products by barge, rail, truck and pipeline to become the largest sulfuric acid regenerator in North America and a leading North American producer of high quality virgin sulfuric acid.

Ecoservices has also applied its expert knowledge in thermal decomposition to provide treatment services for hazardous/non-hazardous wastes, and most recently activate catalysts with our patented Chem32 technology.

Our Catalyst Technologies product development and manufacturing technology is customized based on deep silica based and zeolite based material science know-how.

Our Advanced Materials & Catalysts product development and manufacturing technology is customized based on deep silica and zeolite-based advanced material science know-how.

Our R&D centers seek to develop fit for purpose catalysts with customers.

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The secular trends supporting many of our business segments has allowed us to maintain stable margins while continuing to grow in different macroeconomic environments.

We believe that the stability of our margins and cash flows is also aided by long term sales contracts and material cost pass-through.

We believe that the stability of our margins and cash flows is also aided by long-term sale contracts and material cost pass-through.

Our ability to enter into favorable contracts and terms with customers is driven by our long history of collaborative relationships and track record of providing value-added products and services.

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Our Business Segments

We are a leading, integrated and innovative global provider of specialty catalysts and services.

We believe that our products, which are predominantly inorganic, and services contribute to improving the sustainability of the environment.

We are a leading integrated and innovative global provider of advanced materials, specialty catalysts and services.

We believe that our products and services contribute to improving the sustainability of the environment.

We conduct operations through two reporting segments:

(1) Ecoservices and (2) Catalyst Technologies (including our 50% interest in the Zeolyst Joint Venture).

(1) Ecoservices and (2) Advanced Materials & Catalysts (including our 50% interest in the Zeolyst Joint Venture).

The table below summarizes certain information regarding our two reporting segments for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Year ended December 31, 2023

Segments and Product Groups Sales % of Total Sales Zeolyst Joint Venture Sales (1)

% of Total Sales and Zeolyst Joint Venture Sales (1)(2)

Net Income % of Net Income Adjusted EBITDA (1)

Segments and Product Groups Sales Zeolyst

Joint Venture Sales (1)

Net Income Adjusted EBITDA (1)

% of Total Adjusted EBITDA (1)(2)

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Ecoservices $ 584.8 $ — $ 200.0 70.9 %

Catalyst Technologies 117.7 14.4 % — 12.4 % 26.2 % 78.0 25.5 %

Advanced Materials & Catalysts 106.3 — 81.9 29.1 %

Zeolite Catalyst — 156.5

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Total $ 691.1 $ 156.5 $ 71.2 $ 259.9 100.0 %

(1) Percentage calculations include $132.6 million of sales attributable to the Zeolyst JV, which represents 50% of its total sales for the year ended December 31, 2022.

The Adjusted EBITDA of our Catalyst Technologies segment includes our 50% portion of the Adjusted EBITDA of our Zeolyst JV.

(1) Represents 50% of the Zeolyst Joint Venture (the “Zeolyst Joint Venture” or “Zeolyst JV”) sales for the year ended December 31, 2023.

The Adjusted EBITDA of our Advanced Materials & Catalysts segment includes our 50% portion of the Adjusted EBITDA of our Zeolyst JV.

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We are also a leading North American producer of on-purpose virgin sulfuric acid for water treatment, mining, and industrial applications (“Virgin Sulfuric Acid”).

We provide treatment services for hazardous/non-hazardous industrial wastes (“Treatment Services”) and with the acquisition of Chem 32, LLC (“Chem32”) in March 2021, and we are also a leader in ex situ sulfiding and pre-activation for hydro-processing catalysts, which are used in production of traditional and renewable fuels.

We provide treatment services for hazardous/non-hazardous industrial wastes (“Treatment Services”) and with the acquisition of Chem32 in March 2021, we are also a leader in ex-situ sulfiding and pre-activation for hydro-processing catalysts, which are used in the production of traditional and sustainable fuels.

By providing regeneration services, as well as purchasing by-product sulfur from customers for use in manufacturing virgin sulfuric acid, we believe that we provide our refining customers with a complete solution for their sulfuric acid needs.

Trends for increased alkylate production are being driven by:

rising demand for premium gasoline used in smaller, more efficient turbocharged engines, which requires an alkylate content of approximately 35%-45%, as compared to the 12% alkylate content in regular gasoline;

We believe recent trends for increased alkylate production are being driven by:

rising demand for premium gasoline used in smaller, more efficient turbocharged engines, which requires an alkylate content of approximately 40%-45%, as compared to the approximately 12%-13% alkylate content in regular gasoline;

the need for more alkylate to meet the minimum octane ratings in regular gasoline following the continued significant share growth of shale oil refining in the U.S.;

the full implementation of Tier 3 gasoline sulfur standards in the United States was enacted for 2020, which requires the blending of additional low sulfur high octane gasoline components such as alkylate;

and rising gasoline exports, which generally contain no ethanol and will generally require more alkylate to replace the ethanol in order to meet the minimum octane requirements for the destination countries.

the full implementation of Tier 3 gasoline sulfur standards in the United States enacted in 2020, which requires the blending of additional low sulfur high octane gasoline components such as alkylate;

and rising gasoline exports, which gasoline generally contains no ethanol and generally requires more alkylate to replace the missing ethanol in order to meet minimum octane requirements in the destination countries.

Our Ecoservices segment is mostly regional due to shipping costs and our customer integration requirements.

Our network of facilities is concentrated in the Gulf Coast and the state of California, where more than 60% of the United States refining capacity is located.

We believe that the strategic locations of our plants in these key refining regions contribute to our highly efficient supply chain networks with our customers, including in some cases captive pipelines connecting us to our refinery customers.

Alternatively, product can be shipped by barge, rail and truck.

Our network of facilities is concentrated in the Gulf Coast and the state of California, where approximately 65% of the United States refining capacity is located.

We believe that the strategic locations of our plants in these key refining regions contribute to our efficient supply chain networks with our customers, including in some cases captive pipelines connecting us to our refinery customers.

Additionally, product can be shipped to our customers by barge, rail and truck.

Primary Product Groups

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Ecoservices Manufacturing Platform

Catalyst Technologies

We are a leading global provider of customized and innovative catalyst products and process solutions to leading producers and licensors of polyethylene, or PE, and methyl methacrylate, or MMA.

Our finished silica-based catalysts and catalyst supports are necessary to produce high strength and high stiffness plastics used in packaging films, bottles, containers, and other molded applications.

Global consumer demand for high strength lightweight plastics is expected to continue to grow in the near to medium term driving increased production capacity expansions.

Our zeolite-based catalysts enable the removal of nitrogen oxides from diesel engine emissions as well as sulfur dioxide from fuels during the refining process.

The continued expansion of stricter global regulations for reducing sulfur in fuels is expected to drive the ongoing demand for our products.

Our product groups include Silica Catalysts and Zeolite Catalysts.

Advanced Materials & Catalysts

We are a leading global provider of advanced materials and specialty catalyst products and process solutions to leading producers and licensors of polyethylene.

Our product groups include Advanced Silicas and Zeolite Catalysts.

Zeolite Catalyst products are sold through the Zeolyst Joint Venture.

Silica Catalysts supplies both the finished catalyst and catalyst supports, which are critical catalyst components for the production of HDPE, a high strength and high stiffness plastic used in bottles, containers, and molded applications and LLDPE used predominately for films.

We also produce a catalyst that is used globally for the production of MMA, the monomer for acrylic engineering resins, a clear scratch-resistant plastic used in sheet or molded form to replace glass and as a durable surface coating.

Because these catalysts are highly technical and customized for our customers to produce resins with specific properties, they are often covered under long-term supply agreements and, in some cases, we are a customer’s sole source supplier.

Advanced Silicas supplies finished catalyst and catalyst supports for the production of HDPE and linear low density polyethylene (“LLDPE”).

HDPE is a high strength and high stiffness plastic used in bottles, containers, and molded applications, whereas LLDPE is used predominately for films.

Because these catalysts are highly technical and customized for our customers to manufacture products with specific properties, they are often covered under long-term supply agreements and, in some cases, we are a customer’s sole source supplier.

In addition, we supply silica anti-blocking products that are used to prevent opposite faces of polyethylene and polyester films from adhering to one another during manufacturing and in use.

We also develop and supply functionalized silicas that are typically used in applications requiring high adsorption properties, including CO 2 capture and storage, water clean up and metals removal from waste.

The Zeolyst Joint Venture, (formed in 1988 specifically as Zeolyst International and Zeolyst C.V., our 50% owned joint venture with Shell Catalysts & Technologies, an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell plc.

or “Shell”), supplies high technology specialty zeolites and zeolite-based catalysts to customers for the following major end uses:

refining (primarily hydrocracking catalyst and dewaxing), petrochemicals, renewable fuels, and emission control systems for both on-road and non-road diesel engines.

or “Shell”), supplies high technology specialty zeolites and zeolite-based catalysts to customers for refining of oil primarily hydrocracking catalyst and dewaxing, sustainable fuels and emission control systems for both on-road and non-road diesel engines.

We also supply custom zeolites to catalyst companies who compete in similar industries.

The Zeolyst Joint Venture leverages each partner’s technology and production expertise, including Shell’s expertise in hydrocracking catalyst to maximize liquid product yields, especially distillate while at the same time removing sulfur, and Ecovyst’s expertise in zeolite technology.

We also believe the Zeolyst Joint Venture is a first mover in zeolite fuels and emissions control technology and we expect continued expansion as environmental emissions standards increase globally.

To meet sulfur emission control standards, hydrocracking catalyst is the most economic method for refiners while maintaining yields for diesel, one of the most profitable product streams.

The Zeolyst Joint Venture is the sole supplier of hydrocracking catalyst to Shell, but a majority of catalyst sales are to third-party refineries.

We also provide precursor supports to many of the hydrocracking catalyst suppliers, positioning us as a leading supplier in the global hydrocracking catalyst supply chain.

To meet nitrogen oxides (“NOx”) emission control regulations that are expanding globally, many of our zeolite powders are used in an advanced emission control technology called selective catalytic reduction, largely focused on heavy duty diesel (“HDD”) transportation.

This process uses ammonia to react with engine exhaust gases via our catalysts in order to convert NOx, a pollutant, into harmless nitrogen and water.

The Zeolyst Joint Venture leverages each partner’s technology and production expertise, including Shell’s expertise in hydrocracking to maximize liquid product yields, especially distillate, while at the same time removing sulfur, and Ecovyst’s expertise in zeolite research and development, production technology, and market understanding for applications including sustainable fuels, emission control technology, advanced recycling and many customized zeolite catalyst solutions.

Hydrocracking catalyst is the most economic method to meet sulfur emission control standards for refiners while maintaining yields for diesel, which is considered one of the most profitable product streams.

The Zeolyst Joint Venture is the sole supplier of hydrocracking catalyst to Shell for their own catalyst consumption, however, the majority of sales are to third-party refining customers.

We also provide zeolite supports to many of the hydrocracking catalyst suppliers, positioning us as a leading supplier in the global hydrocracking catalyst value chain.

To meet nitrogen oxides emission control regulations that are expanding globally, many of our zeolite powders are used in an advanced emission control technology called selective catalytic reduction, largely focused on heavy-duty diesel transportation.

This process uses ammonia to react with engine exhaust gases via our catalysts in order to convert nitrogen oxides, a pollutant, into harmless nitrogen and water.

We believe that our zeolite catalysts can enable selective catalytic reduction technology to reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides in such exhaust gases by more than 90% and is one of the most cost-effective methods to reduce diesel engine emissions.

Our Silica Catalysts product group primarily competes with Grace.

The Zeolyst Joint Venture competes with global catalyst producers such as Grace, BASF, UOP, Axens, and Haldor Topsoe, while at the same time providing many of them customized zeolite solutions for their product offerings.

Our Advanced Silicas product group primarily competes with Grace with the catalyst components used for the production of polyethylene.

The Zeolyst Joint Venture competes with global catalyst producers such as Grace, BASF, UOP, Axens, and Topsoe, while at the same time providing many of them customized zeolite solutions for their product offerings.

Some direct competition with niche companies exists, including competitors such as Tosoh and Clariant.

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These zeolites and silicas are either used directly to produce catalysts or are sold as precursors to other catalyst manufacturers.

The chart below summarizes the manufacturing platform for our Catalyst Technologies segment.

Silica Catalysts Manufacturing Platform

The chart below summarizes the manufacturing platform for our Advanced Materials & Catalysts segment.

Advanced Silicas Manufacturing Platform

Zeolyst Joint Venture Manufacturing Platform

Raw Materials

Our products are predominantly inorganic and carbon-free, and are produced from readily available raw materials such as sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide (“caustic soda”), which prices have historically been less volatile than oil.

We also use natural gas in our manufacturing process, with our North American facilities benefiting from the plentiful supplies of shale gas.

Our products are produced from readily available raw materials such as sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide (“caustic soda”).

We also use natural gas and electricity in our manufacturing process, with our North American facilities benefiting from the plentiful supplies of shale gas.

In addition, we have long-term supply relationships with many of our key raw materials suppliers.

We have also been able to mitigate the impact of raw material or energy price volatility using a variety of mechanisms, including cost pass-through clauses in our sales contracts and other adjustment provisions.

We aim to mitigate the impact of raw material or energy price volatility using a variety of mechanisms, including cost pass-through clauses in our sale contracts and other adjustment provisions.

We are able to negotiate our supply agreements for our key raw materials based on our leading industry position and global scale in an effort to achieve competitive pricing.

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Sulfur Ecoservices

Sodium silicate Catalyst Technologies

Sodium silicate Advanced Materials & Catalysts

While natural gas is not a direct feedstock for any individual product, we use natural gas powered furnaces to heat raw materials and create the chemical reactions necessary to manufacture our products.

We maintain multiple suppliers wherever possible and we seek to hedge our exposure to fluctuations in prices for natural gas.

We maintain multiple suppliers wherever possible and we seek to forward purchase to stabilize our exposure to fluctuations in prices for natural gas.

Where possible, we also utilize pass-through clauses for raw material and natural gas costs in our customer contracts.

However, we may not be successful in passing through all increases in raw material costs or maintaining an uninterrupted supply of natural gas for all of our furnaces.

See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business — If we are unable to pass on increases in raw

material prices, including natural gas, to our customers or to retain or replace our key suppliers, our results of operations and cash flows may be negatively affected”.

See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business — If we are unable to pass on increases in raw material prices, including natural gas, to our customers or to retain or replace our key suppliers, our results of operations and cash flows may be negatively affected”.

Zeolyst Joint Venture

The Zeolyst Joint Venture is a long-standing partnership with Shell Catalysts & Technologies, an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell plc.

or “Shell”, that dates back to 1988 and is focused on the development, manufacture and sale of zeolite-containing catalysts through manufacturing facilities located in Kansas and the Netherlands.

or “Shell”, that dates back to 1988 and is focused on the development, manufacture and sale of zeolite-containing catalysts through manufacturing facilities located in Kansas, USA and the Netherlands.

We combine our expertise in zeolite supply and technology with our partner’s expertise in global refinery catalyst sales and technology.

We have a 50% ownership stake in the Zeolyst Joint Venture.

We produce specialty zeolites that are precursors for the production of hydrocracking catalyst and other refinery and renewable fuels catalysts.

Our extensive expertise in zeolite production enables us to manage the production of specialty zeolites.

Specialty zeolite catalysts include aromatic catalysts that upgrade aromatic by-product streams, dewaxing catalysts that improve lube oil performance and diesel cold flow performance, and paraffin isomerization catalysts that upgrade olefins to high octane gasoline blending components for refinery and petrochemical customers.

We produce zeolites that are precursors for the production of hydrocracking catalyst and sustainable fuels catalysts.

Our extensive expertise in zeolite production enables us to manage the production of specialty zeolites which includes custom catalyst solutions, aromatic, mainly Xylene focused catalysts.

dewaxing catalysts that improve lube oil performance, and paraffin isomerization catalysts that upgrade olefins to high octane gasoline blending components for refinery and petrochemical customers.

In addition, our products include zeolite-based catalysts that enable catalytic based thermal pyrolysis of plastics wastes and adsorbents that enable the selective purification of waste streams.

Research and Development

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As of December 31, 2023, we owned 21 patented inventions in the United States, with 175 patents issued in countries around the world and 61 patent applications pending worldwide.

As of December 31, 2022, we also had trademark rights in 50 trademark registrations worldwide, including 5 U.S.

As of December 31, 2023, we also had 61 trademark registrations worldwide, including 5 U.S.

trademark registrations.

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In addition to our registered and applied-for intellectual property portfolio, we also claim ownership of certain trade secrets and proprietary know-how developed by and used in our business.

Including our joint ventures, we are party to certain arrangements whereby we license in the right to use certain intellectual property rights in connection with our business.

Our Ecoservices segment typically experiences seasonal fluctuations as a result of higher demand for gasoline products in the summer and lower demand in the winter months.

Including our Zeolyst Joint Venture, we are party to certain arrangements whereby we license in the right to use certain intellectual property rights in connection with our business.

Our regeneration services product group, which is a part of our Ecoservices segment, typically experiences seasonal fluctuations as a result of higher demand for gasoline products in the summer and lower demand in the winter months.

These demand fluctuations results in higher sales and working capital requirements in the second and third quarters.

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For example, we:

• Were awarded a Gold Sustainability Score from EcoVadis for 2023, a third-party sustainability evaluation company.

The Gold Medal rating score from EcoVadis places us in the 97th percentile of all companies ranked by EcoVadis in our sector peer group;

• Were awarded a 2024 Platinum Sustainability Score from EcoVadis, a third-party sustainability evaluation company.

The Platinum Medal rating from EcoVadis places us among the top 1% (99th percentile) of all companies assessed by EcoVadis over the past twelve months;

• Maintained an executive level position of Vice President – Environment and Sustainability that reports directly to our CEO;

• Created the position of Global Director of Health, Safety and Process Safety Management to oversee the company’s goal-setting and improvement efforts in the areas of health, safety and process safety;

• Provided enhanced sustainability information on our website and published our 2021 Sustainability Report, our first as Ecovyst, in June 2022;

• Continued work towards our previously announced series of sustainability goals with respect to greenhouse gas emissions, waste management and reduction, product sustainability/R&D investment and company certifications by 2025 and 2030;

• Under the leadership of our Global Director of Health, Safety and Process Safety Management, instituted additional health, safety and process safety programs, as well as launched a company-wide employee health and wellness program that covers both physical and mental health;

• Provided enhanced sustainability information on our website and published our 2022 Sustainability Report, our second as Ecovyst, in July 2023;

• Continued work towards our recently announced series of 2025 and 2030 sustainability goals with respect to fuel usage, power usage, healthy, safety and environment performance, and community engagement;

• Introduced our employees to our core values Stewardship, High Standards, Integrity and Engagement (“SHINE”) and in 2023, provided training on these values and provisions of our Code of Conduct, completing training for approximately 99.8% of active employees in 2023;

• Continued steps to implement additional improvements in a number of areas, including health, safety and environmental (“HSE”) performance;

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• Further integrated a corporate-wide sustainability software platform, which we are utilizing as an internal, real-time sustainability performance dashboard to enable improved analytics and greater visibility into our sustainability impacts;

• Achieved a 90% performance in our flagship HSE Perfect Days program, which targets at-risk behaviors and celebrates positive HSE performance across the organization on a daily basis.

• Achieved a greater than 90% performance in our flagship HSE Perfect Days program, which targets at-risk behaviors and celebrates positive HSE performance across the organization on a daily basis.

The sections that follow provide some highlights of our environmental, social, and governance programs and procedures.

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Our products and technologies continue to address our customers’ sustainability challenges, tightening global regulatory standards and changing consumer preferences.

In our Ecoservices segment, we provide sulfuric acid regeneration services that avoid significant landfill or deep well disposal.

In our Catalyst Technologies segment, our zeolite catalysts are used for cleaner air applications and our silica catalysts are key for light weighting and plastics recycling.

In our Ecoservices segment, we provide sulfuric acid regeneration services that avoid significant landfill or deep well disposal of spent, or used, sulfuric acid.

In our Advanced Materials & Catalysts segment, our zeolite catalysts are used for cleaner air applications and our advanced silicas are key for light weighting and plastics recycling.

As part of our sustainability commitment regarding our own operations, we apply the principles of the Environmental Management standard of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 14001) at our facilities throughout the world.

For chemical facilities in the United States, we also adhere to the Responsible Care® RC14001 Technical Specifications of the American Chemistry Council (“ACC”).

We maintain policies and procedures to monitor and control health, safety, and environmental risks, and to enable compliance with applicable state, national, and international health, safety, and environmental requirements.

We have comprehensive health, safety and environmental compliance, auditing and management programs in place to assist in our compliance with applicable regulatory requirements and with internal policies and procedures, as appropriate.

We maintain policies and procedures to monitor and control HSE risks, and to enable compliance with applicable state, national, and international HSE requirements.

We have comprehensive HSE compliance, auditing and management programs in place to assist in our compliance with applicable regulatory requirements and with internal policies and procedures, as appropriate.

Each Ecovyst facility has developed and implemented specific critical occupational health, safety, environmental, security and loss control programs.

We also have a strong HSE organization staffed by professionals who are responsible for environmental, safety, health and product regulatory compliance.

Our HSE organizational structure features executive management level leadership, active oversight by our Board and dedicated environmental and safety experts on staff.

We have a Global Director of Health, Safety and Process Safety Management and also have Regional HSE Specialists and Managers who are embedded in the field and provide HSE expertise and support to operating sites.

Certain, larger sites may have dedicated environmental or safety personnel.

As an ACC Responsible Care® member company, we continue to monitor and report our health, safety, and environmental metrics annually.

Our sustainability metrics, including waste generation and water consumption for 2018 and 2019, were third party assured for the first time in 2020.

In 2021, we reviewed our 2020 sustainability metrics and successfully underwent third party verification of this data as well.

We included the assured 2020 data on our website and in our 2021 Sustainability Report, which we published in June 2022.

The further information contained on our website is not incorporated herein by reference and is not a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We also have established a Product Safety and Product Stewardship management system that is compliant with the RC14001 technical specification and is supported by a highly skilled Product Stewardship Manager.

We also have a strong Health and Safety (“H&S”) and Environmental and Sustainability (“E&S”) organizations staffed by professionals who are responsible for health, safety, process safety, sustainability, product stewardship and product safety regulatory compliance.

Our H&S and E&S organizational structures feature executive management-level leadership, active oversight by our Board and dedicated H&S and E&S experts on staff.

We have a Global Director of Health, Safety and Process Safety Management and also have Regional H&S Specialists and Managers who are embedded in the field and provide H&S expertise and support to operating sites.

In addition, our Vice President Environmental and Sustainability oversees a team of environmental personnel that serve our operating sites.

As an ACC Responsible Care® member company, we continue to monitor and report our HSE metrics annually.

Our sustainability metrics, including waste generation and water consumption for 2018 through 2022, were third party assured through verification of the data.

We included the assured data on our website and in our 2022 Sustainability Report, which we published in July 2023.

We conduct Product Stewardship reviews as part of new product development and routinely evaluate product safety risk for raw materials, intermediates, and finished products.

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Using tools such as our Supplier Code of Conduct and contractual provisions, we also hold our business partners to these same standards.

Our flagship “Success through People” program furthers our strategy by acknowledging our workforce is key to our success.

We further our people by acknowledging our workforce is key to our success.

We offer highly competitive salaries, benefits, developmental opportunities and work/life balance.

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We review our compensation and benefits programs periodically to ensure continued competitiveness.

In the US, our benefit program is designed to help protect the health and financial well-being of our full-time employees and their family members today, offering a choice of several medical & dental plans, as well as vision, flexible spending accounts, short-term and long-term disability insurance and an employee assistance program.

In the United States, our benefit programs are designed to help protect the health and financial well-being of our full-time employees and their family members, offering a choice of several medical & dental plans, as well as vision, flexible spending accounts, short-term and long-term disability insurance and an employee assistance program.

To help them prepare for their future, we offer a defined contribution savings plan, which includes company contributions.

Benefits outside the US are designed to supplement government-provided programs in each country.

We actively promote diversity within the Company and seek to have a workforce that reflects the diversity of the societies in which we operate.

We benefit from our talented, dedicated and diverse employee population.

As of December 31, 2022, we had 890 employees worldwide, of which 754 were employed in the United States and the remainder outside of the United States.

Benefits outside the United States are designed to supplement government-provided programs in each country.

We benefit from our talented, dedicated and diverse employee population and we actively promote diversity in an effort to maintain a workforce that reflects the diversity of the societies in which we operate.

As of December 31, 2023, we had 911 employees worldwide, of which 784 were employed in the United States.

Further, as of December 31, 2023, approximately 24% of our U.S.-based executives, managers and professionals were females and 21% were non-white males.

Our rate of hiring veterans increased from 7% in 2021 to 11% in 2022, which is double the federal government’s national veterans hiring benchmark for 2022.

As of December 31, 2023, approximately 44% of our employees were represented by a union, works council or other employee representative body.

We believe we have good relationships with our employees and their respective works councils, unions or other bargaining representatives.

This international strength, supported by our core values of integrity and fairness, fosters a rich culture founded on diversity of thought.

This international strength, supported by our core values of SHINE, fosters a rich culture founded on diversity of thought.

We firmly believe that success is achieved through the intellect and commitment of our people, so we employ a long-term human capital program to attract, retain and develop talent for the future.

We are proud of our highly collaborative teams that enable an inclusive workplace where employees are encouraged to bring their own experiences to promote innovation from all levels of the organization.

This constructive work environment has been re-enforced with the recent implementation of a fully integrated on-line performance management process that improves the communication of aligned goals, encourages consistent feedback and furthers employee engagement.

Today, there are women on the leadership teams of each of our businesses as well as in all our functions:

R&D, Finance, HSE and Human Resources.

This constructive work environment is supplemented with a fully integrated on-line performance management process that improves the communication of aligned goals, encourages consistent feedback and furthers employee engagement.

Today, there are women on the leadership teams of each of our businesses as well as in our R&D, Finance, E&S and Human Resources functions.

In 2023, our sites continued to work to have a positive impact in the communities in which we operate.

For example, for the holidays (a) our office in The Woodlands, Texas donated blankets, popcorn, and Christmas candy to the Montgomery County Community Center;

(b) our Houston, Texas plant personnel provided gifts to five neighborhood families during the holiday season and also held a dinner for community members at their Community Advisory Panel meeting;

(d) our Baytown, Texas plant supported two local families with household supplies, food, and Christmas gifts and also had 11 employees volunteer at the Houston Food to prepare Backpack Buddy meals;

(e) employees at our Baton Rouge facility adopted 20 Angels through the Salvation Army for the holiday season;

(f) our Martinez, California facility held a holiday dinner for the Community Advisory Panel;

(g) our Dominguez, California plant personnel donated $1,000 to a local Rotary Club to subsidize food items for local families;

and (h) our Malvern, Pennsylvania office personnel participated in the “Adopt a Child” program sponsored by a local church to provide holiday gifts for children whose families would not otherwise be able to afford gifts .

Some of these events included:

(a) our office in The Woodlands, Texas participated in a food drive sponsored by a non-profit organization to provide Thanksgiving meals to families as well as sponsor local AAU basketball teams;

(b) our Houston, Texas plant supported a local elementary school by providing lunches for Teacher Appreciation day, provided bus services for children to take a field trip for the holidays, and donated jerseys to a soccer team;

(d) our Baytown, Texas plant donated benches to a local elementary school and wrote holiday cards for troops stationed abroad;

(e) employees at our Baton Rouge, Louisiana facility collaborated with a non-profit organization to renovate the residences of elderly and disabled, low-income homeowners and adopted Angels through the Salvation Army for the holiday season;

(f) our Martinez, California facility participated in several community awareness and emergency response task forces;

(g) our Dominguez, California plant personnel donated $1,000 to a local Rotary Club to subsidize food items for local families and donated benches to a local school;

(h) our West Orange, Texas plant donated to organizations whose mission is to train, educate, and empower young women;

(i) our Kansas City, Kansas site participated in the “Adopt an Angel” program sponsored by a charitable organization where employees purchased and wrapped holiday gifts;

(j) our Warrington, United Kingdom sponsored uniforms for a local youth soccer team;

(k) our Delfzijl, The Netherlands site donated funds to a local food pantry;

(l) our Conshohocken, Pennsylvania site participated in a food drive, donated toys for Toys for Tots and cleaned the surrounding neighborhood for Earth Day;

and (m) our Malvern, Pennsylvania office personnel participated in a food drive sponsored by a local food pantry to provide Thanksgiving meals to families, as well as in the “Adopt a Child” program sponsored by a local church to provide holiday gifts for children whose families would not otherwise be able to afford gifts.

We maintain and consistently reinforce within our organization a series of policies and practices designed to ensure that decisions made on behalf of our company are properly made and executed.

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The principles set forth in the Executive Statement are codified in our Code of Conduct, which sets forth the legal and ethical standards to which our employees must adhere, including (a) acting with integrity, (b) avoiding actual or apparent conflicts of interest, (c) complying with the rules and regulations of federal, state, provincial, local governments, and other appropriate regulatory agencies, (d) complying with all rules and regulations prohibiting fraud, bribery, corrupt practices, anti-competitive activities and trading with embargoed persons and countries, (e) complying with all company policies and procedures, and (f) actively promoting ethical behavior in the workplace.

We provide annual training on our Code of Conduct to all our global employees and have enhanced our delivery with online learning modules.

Our governance programs and policies can be found in the Company’s Ethics section of the sustainability webpages, which is routinely updated and includes a description of our enterprise risk management program and our policies on child labor, human trafficking, anti-harassment, antibribery, and cyber security all of which are evaluated by third-parties, including EcoVadis.

Our governance programs and policies can be found on the Company’s sustainability webpages, which is routinely updated and includes a description of our enterprise risk management program and our policies on child labor, human trafficking, anti-harassment, antibribery, and cybersecurity all of which are evaluated by third-parties, including EcoVadis.

In addition, the investors pages of our website contain additional materials regarding our corporate governance process, including our Board committee charters, our corporate governance guidelines, our Code of Conduct, our Supplier Code of Conduct and other documents.

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Further information about our sustainability programs can be found on our website at https://www.ecovyst.com/sustainability/.

The information available at our sustainability web site includes our inaugural sustainability report, our sustainability goals (and how such goals map to the UN Sustainable Development Goals), materiality matrix, letters of assurance, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Disclosure and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Index, our HSES Policy Statement, our Corporate Code of Conduct, our Human Rights Policy Statement, a description of our Ethics & Compliance Complaint and Review Process and our Labor Policy.

The information available on our sustainability website includes our sustainability report, our sustainability goals (and how such goals map to the UN Sustainable Development Goals), materiality matrix, letters of assurance, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Disclosure and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Index, our Health Safety Environment & Security Policy Statement, our Corporate Code of Conduct, our Human Rights Policy Statement, a description of our Ethics & Compliance Complaint and Review Process and our Labor Policy.

The further information contained on our website is not incorporated herein by reference and is not a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Environmental Regulations

We are subject to extensive, evolving and increasingly stringent national and local environmental laws and regulations, which address, among other things, the following:

We are subject to extensive, evolving and increasingly stringent national, state and/or local environmental laws and regulations, which address, among other things, the following:

• emissions to the air;

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• stewardship of products after manufacture.

We apply the principles of the Environmental Management standard of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 14001) at our facilities throughout the world.

Again, we apply the principles of the Environmental Management standard of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 14001) at our facilities throughout the world.

For chemical facilities in the United States, we also adhere to the Responsible Care RC14001 Technical Specifications of the American Chemistry Council.

We maintain policies and procedures to monitor and control health, safety, and environmental risks, and to monitor compliance with applicable state, national, and international health, safety, and environmental requirements.

We have a strong health, safety, environmental organization.

We maintain policies and procedures to monitor and control HSE risks, and to monitor compliance with applicable state, national, and international HSE requirements.

We have a strong HSE organization.

We maintain a staff of professionals who are responsible for environmental, safety, health and product regulatory compliance.

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Environmental Programs

Each facility has developed and implemented specific critical occupational health, safety, environmental, security and loss control programs.

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Product Safety and Product Stewardship

We have established a Product Safety and Product Stewardship management system that is compliant with the RC14001 technical specification and is supported by two highly skilled Product Stewardship Managers, one of which is a REACH Specialist.

We have established a Product Safety and Product Stewardship management system that is compliant with the RC14001 technical specification and is supported by a highly skilled Director of Product Stewardship, who is a “Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals” (“REACH”) Specialist.

We conduct Product Stewardship reviews as part of new product development and routinely evaluate product safety risk for raw materials, intermediates, and products.

As a chemical company, we are subject to extensive and evolving regulations regarding the manufacturing, processing, distribution, importing, exporting, and labeling of our products and their raw materials.

In the European Union, the REACH regulations came into effect in 2007, with implementation rolling out over time.

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Since the promulgation of REACH, other countries have enacted or are in the process of implementing similar comprehensive chemical regulations.

These programs include the Korea REACH law, which is requiring registration and potential testing of chemicals, and similar programs under development in the UK, Taiwan, Turkey, India, and elsewhere.

In the US, all pertinent chemicals have been designated as “active” under the US EPA Frank R.

These programs include the Korea REACH law, which is requiring registration and potential testing of chemicals, and similar programs implemented in the UK, Taiwan, Turkey, India, and elsewhere.

In the US, all pertinent chemicals have been designated as “active” under the US Frank R.

Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act.

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Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1. Business