We evaluate on a case-by-case basis how best to use patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and other available intellectual property protections in order to protect our products and our critical investments in research and development, manufacturing and marketing. We focus on securing and maintaining patents for certain inventions such as composition-of-matter, while maintaining other inventions such as process improvements as trade secrets, derived from our market-based business model, in an effort to maximize the value of our product portfolio and manufacturing capabilities and reinforce our competitive advantage. Our policy is to seek appropriate intellectual property protection for significant product and process developments in the major areas where the relevant products are manufactured or sold. Patents may cover products, processes, intermediate products and product uses. Patents extend for varying periods in accordance with the date of patent application filing and the legal life of patents in the various countries in which the patents are registered. The protection afforded, which may also vary from country to country, depends upon the type of subject matter covered by the patent and the scope of the claims of the patent.

In most industrial countries, patent protection may be available for new substances and formulations, as well as for unique applications and production processes. However, given the geographical scope of our business and our continued growth strategy, there are regions of the world in which we do business or may do business in the future where intellectual property protection may be limited and difficult to enforce. Moreover, we monitor our competitors’ products and, if circumstances were to dictate that we do so, we would vigorously challenge the actions of others that conflict with our patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights. We maintain appropriate information security policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure the safeguarding of confidential information including, where appropriate, data encryption, access controls and employee awareness training.

We own or have rights to a number of patents relating to our products and processes. As of December 31, 2017,2020, we owned 4639 patented inventions in the United States, with approximately 332286 patents issued in countries around the world and approximately 12869 patent applications pending worldwide covering more than 2511 additional inventions. As of December 31, 2017,2020, we also had trademark rights in approximately 605379 trademark registrations worldwide, including approximately 7544 U.S. trademark registrations. We also have approximately 6521 pending trademark applications, which include applications in the United States and worldwide. 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 governance programs and policies can be found in the Company’s Ethics section of the sustainability webpages, which is routinely updated and includes our policies on child labor, human trafficking, anti-harassment, antibribery, and cyber security all of which are evaluated by third-parties, including Ecovadis. Our 2020 Ecovadis Assessment scored PQ’s Ethics response in the top quartile of our sector category, basic chemicals. We continue to provide annual Code of Conduct training to all our global employees and have been no labor strikes or work stoppages in these locations in recent history.enhanced our delivery with online learning modules.

Obtaining, producing and distributing many of our products involve the use, storage, transportation and disposal of toxic and hazardous materials. We are subject to extensive, evolving and increasingly stringent national and local environmental laws and regulations, which address, among other things, the following:

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 environmental, health, safety, and safetyenvironmental risks, and to monitor compliance with applicable state, national, and international environmental, health, safety, and safetyenvironmental requirements. We have a strong environmental, health, and safety, environmental organization. We have a staff of professionals who are responsible for environmental, safety, health safety and product regulatory compliance. We have implemented a corporate audit program for all of our facilities. However, we cannot provide assurance that we will at all times be in full compliance at all times with all applicable environmental laws and regulations. We expect that stringent environmental regulations will continue to be imposed on us and our industry in general. Evolving chemical regulation programs throughout the world could impose testing requirements or restrictions on our chemical raw materials and products. These programs include the 2016 amendments to the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act, under which the EPA will prioritize and evaluate chemicals for regulation, the E.U. REACH regulations, which have ongoing registration and evaluation requirements with associated testing costs and potential restrictions, the Korea REACH law, which is requiring registration and potentially testing of chemicals, and similar programs being developed in Taiwan, Turkey, India, and elsewhere. Based on our chemicals and the various regulations promulgated to date, we do not anticipate costly testing requirements or severe restrictions, but cannot guarantee that we will not be subject to requirements for our products or raw materials that could materially affect our operations.

We also have implemented a Health, Safety and Environmental (“HSE”) organizational structure with executive committee level leadership and dedicated environmental experts. We 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.

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

Since the promulgation of REACH, other countries (e.g., China, Korea, Taiwan) have enacted andor are in the process of implementing similar comprehensive regulationchemical regulations. These programs include the Korea REACH law, which is requiring registration and

Our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct and the charters of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and Health, Safety and Environment Committee of our Board of Directors are also available on our website and are available in print to any shareholder upon request by writing to PQ Investor Relations, 300 Lindenwood Drive, Malvern, PA 19355. In accordance with SEC rules, we intend to disclose any amendment (other than any technical, administrative or other non-substantive) to the Code of Business Conduct, or any waiver of any provision thereof with respect to any of our executive officers, on our website within four business days following such amendment or waiver.

In addition to the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, you should carefully consider the following risks that we believe are the material risks that we face. The risks described below could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations, and should be read together and in conjunction with the forward-looking statements and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes thereto.

We have significant operations in many countries, including manufacturing sites, research and development facilities, sales personnel and customer support operations. As of December 31, 2017,2020, we operated 7240 manufacturing facilities across sixfive continents. For the year ended December 31, 2017,2020, our foreign subsidiaries accounted for 41%40% of our sales. Our operations are affected directly and indirectly by global regulatory, economic and political conditions, including:

We sell performance chemicals, performance materialscatalysts and catalystsservices that are used in manufacturing processes and as components of, or ingredients in, other products and, as a result, our sales are correlated with and affected by fluctuations in the level of industrial production and manufacturing output and by fluctuations in general economic activity, including, for example, any potential impact of the vote by the United Kingdom to exit the European Union, commonly referred to as “Brexit.”activity. Producers of performance chemicals, in particular, are likely to reduce their output in periods of significant contraction in industrial and consumer demand, while demand for the products we manufacture often depends on trends in demand in the end uses our customers serve. Our profit margins, as well as overall demand for our products, could decline as a result of factors outside our control, including economic recessions, changes in industrial production processes or consumer preferences, changes in laws and regulations affecting our industry and the manner in which they are enforced, inflation, fluctuations in interest and currency exchange rates and changes in the fiscal or monetary policies of governments in the regions in which we operate.

As a result of our international operations, for the year ended December 31, 2017,2020, we generated 41%40% of our sales and incurred a significant portion of our expenses in currencies other than U.S. dollars. We incur currency transaction risk whenever we enter into either a purchase or sale transaction using a currency other than the local currency of the transacting entity. The main currencies to which we are exposed, besides the U.S. dollar, are the Euro, British pound, Canadian dollar, Mexican peso and the Brazilian real. The exchange rates between these currencies and the U.S. dollar have fluctuated significantly in recent years and may continue to do so in the future. In many cases, we sell exclusively in those jurisdictions and do not have the ability to mitigate our exposure to currency fluctuations through our operations. Accordingly, to the extent that we are unable to match sales made in such foreign currencies with costs paid in the same currency, exchange rate fluctuations could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In the past, we have experienced economic loss and a negative impact on earnings as a result of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations and any future fluctuations may have similar or greater impacts. We expect that the amount of our sales denominated in non-dollarnon-U.S. dollar currencies may increase in future periods. Given the volatility of exchange rates, there can be no assurance that we will be able to effectively manage our currency transaction risks or that any volatility in currency exchange rates will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.”

Additionally, because our consolidated financial results are reported in U.S dollars, the translation of sales or earnings generated in other currencies into U.S. dollars can result in a significant increase or decrease in the amount of those sales or earnings in our financial statements, which also affects the comparability of our results of operations and cash flows between financial periods. Further, currency fluctuations may negatively impact our debt service requirements, which are primarily in U.S. dollars.

Doing business on a worldwide basis requires us and our subsidiaries to comply with the laws and regulations of the U.S. government and various international jurisdictions, and our failure to successfully comply with these laws and regulations may restrict our operations, trade practices, investment decisions and partnering activities and may expose us to liabilities. Such laws and regulations apply to companies, individual directors, officers, employees and agents, and may restrict our operations, trade practices, investment decisions and partnering activities.agents.

In particular, our international operations are subject to U.S. and foreign anti-corruption laws and regulations, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and the U.K. Bribery Act (“UKBA”). The FCPA prohibits us from providing anything of value to foreign officials for the purposes of influencing official decisions or obtaining or retaining business or otherwise obtaining favorable treatment, and requires us to maintain adequate record-keeping and internal accounting practices to accurately reflect our transactions. As part of our business, we may deal with state-owned business enterprises, the employees and representatives of which may be considered foreign officials for purposes of the FCPA and UKBA. In addition, some of the international locations in which we operate lack a developed legal system and have elevated levels of corruption. As a result of our international operations, we are exposed to the risk of violating anti-corruption laws.

In addition, we are subject to applicable export controls and economic sanctions laws and regulations imposed by the U.S. government and other countries. Changes in such laws and regulations may restrict our business practices, including cessation of business activities in sanctioned countries or regions or with sanctioned entities or individuals, and may result in modifications to compliance programs. Violations of these legal requirements are punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment, civil penalties, disgorgement of profits, injunctions, debarment from government contracts, loss of export privileges and other remedial measures.

Many of the products that we sell are used in manufacturing processes and as components of or ingredients in other products and, as a result, changes in our customers’ end products or processes or alternative technologytechnologies may enable our customers to reduce or eliminate consumption or use of our products. For example, the ongoing shift in customer preferences in the detergent industry from powders to liquid has resulted in lower demand for certain types of zeolites. Additionally, shifting consumer preference could result in a significant reduction in the future use of fossil fuels, which would have a negative impact on our zeolite catalysts and refining services. If we are unable to respond appropriately to such new developments, such changes could seriously impair our ability to profitably market certain of our products.

The industries in which we operate are subject to periodic technological changes and ongoing product improvements. In order to maintain our margins and remain competitive, we must successfully develop, manufacture and market new or improved products. As a result, we must commit substantial resources each year to new product research and development. Ongoing investments in new product research and development could result in higher costs without a proportional increase in revenues. Additionally, for any new product program, there is a risk of technical or market failure, in which case we may need to commit additional resources to the program and may not be able to develop the new products needed to maintain our competitive position. Moreover, new products may have lower margins than the products they replace or may not successfully attract end users.

We also expect competition to increase as our competitors develop and introduce new and enhanced products. As such products are introduced, our products may become obsolete or our competitors’ products may be marketed more effectively. If we fail to develop new products, maintain or improve our margins with our new products or keep pace with technological developments, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows will suffer.

We purchase significant amounts of raw materials, including soda ash, cullet, industrial sand, aluminum trihydrate, sodium hydroxide (commonly known as caustic soda) and sulfur (including hydrogen sulfite)sulfide), in our performance chemicals, performance materialsPerformance Chemicals and refining services product groups,Refining Services segments, and we purchase significant amounts of natural gas to supply the energy required in our production process. The cost of these raw materials represents a substantial portion of our operating expenses and our results of operations have been, and could in the future be, significantly affected by increases in the costs of such raw materials. In addition, we obtain a significant portion of our raw materials from certain key suppliers. If any of those suppliers is unable to meet its obligations under current supply agreements, we may be forced to pay higher prices to obtain the necessary raw materials. Furthermore, if any of the raw materials that we use become unavailable within the geographic area from which we currently source them, we may not be able to obtain suitable and cost-effective substitutes. Any interruption of supply or any price increase of raw materials could adversely affect our profitability.

While we attempt to match raw material price increases with corresponding product price increases, our ability to pass on increases in the cost of raw materials to our customers is, to a large extent, dependent upon our contractual arrangements and market conditions. There may be periods of time during which we are not able to recover increases in the cost of raw materials due to our contractual arrangements or weakness in demand for, or oversupply of, our products. Specifically, timing differences between price adjustments of raw materials, which may occur daily, and adjustments to our product prices, which in many cases are adjusted quarterly or less often, have had and may continue to have a negative effect on our profitability. Even in periods during which raw material prices decline, we may suffer decreasing profits if customers seek relief in the form of lower sales prices or if the raw material price reductions occur at a slower rate than decreases in the selling prices of our products. Furthermore, some of our performance chemicals customers may take advantage of fluctuating prices by building inventories when they expect product prices to increase and reducing inventories when they expect product prices to decrease. Such volatility can result in commercial disputes with customers and suppliers with respect to interpretations of complex contractual arrangements, the adverse resolution of which could reduce our profitability.

In the past, we have entered into long-term supply contracts for certain of our raw materials, including for certain of our North American soda ash.ash purchases. As these contracts expire, we may not be able to renegotiate or enter into new long-term supply contracts that will offer similar protection from price increases and other fluctuations on terms that are satisfactory to us or at all. For example, a contract for the supply of caustic soda expired at the end of 2019 and we incurred increased costs to obtain caustic soda in 2020 because the replacement contract increased the price we paid for that raw material.

Our competitors may improve their competitive position in our core end use applications by successfully introducing new products, improving their manufacturing processes, expanding their capacity or manufacturing facilities or responding more effectively than uswe do to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements. Some of our competitors may be able to lower prices for products that compete with our products if their costs are lower. In addition, consolidation among our competitors or customers may result in reduced demand for our products or make it more difficult for us to compete. Some of our competitors’ financial, technological and other resources may be greater than ours or they may have less debt than we do and, as a result, may be better able to withstand changes to industry conditions. The occurrence of any of these events could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our credit procedures and policies may not be adequate to minimize or mitigate customer credit risk. Our customers may experience financial difficulties, including bankruptcies, restructurings and liquidations. These and other financial problems our customers may experience, as well as potential financial weakness in the industries in which we operate, may increase our risk in extending trade credit to customers. A significant adverse change in a customer’s financial position could cause us to limit or discontinue business with such customer, require us to assume more credit risk relating to such customer’s receivables or limit our ability to collect accounts receivable from such customer, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

A loss of any significant customer, including a pipeline customer, or a decrease in the provision of products to any significant customer could have an adverse effect on our business until alternative arrangements are secured. Any alternative arrangement to replace the loss of a customer wouldcould result in increased variable costs relating to product shipment. In addition, any new customer agreement enteredwe enter into by us may not have terms as favorable as those contained in our current customer agreements, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For the year ended December 31, 20172020 our top 10 customers represented approximately 22%30% of our sales and no single customer represented more than 5% of our sales.

Refineries, which represent a sizable subset of our Environmental Catalysts andRefining Services business customers,segment, have undergone significant consolidation and additional consolidation is possible in the future. Such consolidation could further increase our reliance on a small number of customers and further increase our customers’ leverage over us, resulting in downward pressure on prices and an adverse effect on our profitability.

Many of the customer contracts in our refining services product groupRefining Services segment are multi-year agreements. Sulfuric acid regeneration customer contracts are typically on five- to ten-year terms and virgin sulfuric acid customer contracts are typically on one- to five-year terms, with larger customers typically favoring longer terms. Excluding contracts with automatic evergreen provisions, approximately 70%40% of our sulfuric acid volume for the year ended December 31, 20172020 was under contracts expiring at the end of 20192021 or beyond. In addition, our sulfuric acid regeneration contracts with major refinery customers typically allow for termination with advance notice of one to two years. We cannot provide assurance that our existing contracts will not be subjected to early terminations or that our expiring contracts will be renewed at the end of their terms. If we receive a significant number of such contract terminations or experience non-renewals from key customers in our refining services product group,Refining Services segment, our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows may be materially adversely affected.

We have made and continue to make significant investments in each of our businesses. These projects require us to commit significant capital to, among other things, implement engineering plans and obtain the necessary permits before we generate revenues related to our investments in these businesses. Such projects may take longer to complete or require additional unanticipated expenditures and may never generate profits. If we fail to recover our investment, or these projects never become profitable, our ability to implement our business strategy may be materially and adversely affected.

Even though we are generally a materials and services supplier rather than a manufacturer of finished goods, the sale of our products involves the risk of product liability claims and voluntary or government-ordered product recalls. For example, certain of the products that we manufacture provide critical performance functions to our customers’ end products and are used in and around other chemical manufacturing facilities highways, airports and other locations where personal injury or property damage may occur or are used in certain consumer goods such as beverages, personal care products and medicinal applications. While we attempt to protect ourselves from product liability claims and exposures through our adherence to standards and specifications and through contractual negotiations and provisions, there can be no assurance that our efforts will ultimately protect us from any such claims. A product liability claim or voluntary or government-ordered product recall could result in substantial and unexpected expenditures, affect consumer or customer confidence in our products and divert management’s attention from other responsibilities. A product recall or successful product liability claim or series of claims against us in excess of our insurance coverage and for which we are not otherwise indemnified could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. We have product liability insurance in amounts that we believe are adequate to cover this risk. However, our insurance may not provide adequate coverage against all potential liabilities. If a claim is brought against us, we might be required to pay legal and other expenses to defend the claim, as well as pay uncovered damage awards resulting from a claim brought successfully against us and these damages could be significant and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. Furthermore, whether or not we are ultimately successful in defending any such claims, we might be required to direct significant financial and managerial resources to such defense and adverse publicity is likely to result.

We compete in industries in which we and our customers are subject to federal, state, local, international and transnational laws and regulations. Such laws and regulations are numerous and sometimes conflicting, and any future changes to such laws and regulations could adversely affect us. For example, our performance materials product group sells products used in highway safety applications, and such products are subject to laws and regulations that vary by state. If we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, we may be subject to civil remedies, including fines, injunctions, recalls or seizures, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In order to obtain regulatory approval for certain of our new products, we must, among other things, demonstrate to the relevant authority that the product is safe and effective for its intended uses and that we are capable of manufacturing the product in accordance with current regulations. The process of seeking approvals can be costly, time-consuming and subject to unanticipated and significant delays. Any delay in obtaining, or any failure to obtain or maintain, these approvals would adversely affect our ability to introduce new products and to generate sales from those products, and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Our products, including the raw materials we handle, are subject to rigorous chemical registration and industrial hygiene regulations and investigation. There is risk that a key raw material, chemical or substance, or one of the end products of which our products are a part, may be recharacterized as having a toxicological or health-related impact on the environment, our customers or our employees. Industrial hygiene regulations are continually strengthened and if such recharacterization occurred,occurs, the relevant raw material, chemical or product may be banned or we may incur increased costs in order to comply with new requirements. Changes in industrial hygiene regulations also affect the marketability of certain of our products, and future regulatory changes may have a material adverse effect on our business.

New laws and regulations, and changes in existing laws and regulations, may be introducedbecome effective in the future and could prevent or inhibit the development, distribution and sale of our products, including, as a resultbut not limited to, the imposition of additional compliance costs, seizures, confiscation, recall or monetary fines. For example, as discussed in more detail in “Business-Environmental Regulations” and “Business-Chemical Product Regulation,” we may be materially impacted by regulatory initiatives worldwide with respect to chemical product safety such as the 2016 amendments to the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act, the E.U. regulation “Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances”Chemicals” (“REACH”), and/or similar regulations being enacted in other countries (e.g., China REACH; Korea REACH). Additionally, the current U.S. administration may seek to reducetighten current environmental standards and regulations, such asincluding, but not limited to, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which could have a material adverse effect on our sales into the fuels and emission controls industries.

Like other chemical companies, our operations and properties are subject to extensive and stringent federal, state, local and foreign environmental laws and regulations. U.S. federal environmental laws that affectsaffect us include the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”). These laws govern, among other things, emissions to the air, discharges or releases of hazardous substances to land, surface, subsurface strata and water, wastewater discharges and the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment, disposal and remediation of hazardous materials and petroleum products. We are also subject to other federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations regarding chemical and product safety as well as employee health and safety matters, including process safety requirements. These laws and regulations may become more stringent over time and the failure to comply with such laws and regulations can result in significant fines or penalties.

We have in the past been and currently are the subject of investigations and enforcement actions pursuant to environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act. Some of these matters were resolved through the payment of significant monetary penalties and a requirement to implement corrective actions at our facilities. For instance, in November 2015, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued a $1.7 million fine against us for allegedly excessive emissions of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides from our Chester, Pennsylvania site. We appealed the alleged violations and the associated fine was reduced to $0.2 million. We alsowe remain subject to a 2007 Consent Decree that resolves certain alleged Clean Air Act violations at our seven refining services operating locations involving New Source Review, Prevention of Significant Deterioration and New Source Performance Standard obligations under the U.S. federal rules for the pollutants sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid mist. The Consent Decree required Solvay (the owner at the time) to pay a $2 million penalty and spend approximately $34 million on air pollution controls at our facilities, the majority of which was received from customers in contractual arrangements. Work under the Consent Decree has proceeded since 2007, and we believe that all of the significant capital improvements related to the Consent Decree have been completed. One of our operating locations has been released from the scope of the Consent Decree and we are seeking release of the other locations covered by the Consent Decree.

We are required by these environmental laws and regulations to obtain registrations, licenses, permits and other approvals in order to operate, to make disclosures to public authorities about our chemical handling and usage activities and to install expensive pollution control and spill containment equipment at our facilities, or to incur other capital expenditures aimed at achieving or maintaining compliance with such laws and regulations. We are preparing to implementin the process of implementing a substantial environmentally-driven capital improvement project over the next three years and failure to complete this project or to timely identify and implement other capital projects required to achieve or maintain compliance could expose us to enforcement and penalty.

Under CERCLA and analogous statutes in local and foreign jurisdictions, current and former owners and operators of land impacted by releases of hazardous substances are strictly liable for the investigation and remediation of the contamination resulting from the release. Liability under CERCLA and analogous laws is strict, unlimited, joint, several and retroactive, may be imposed regardless of fault and may relate to historical activities or contamination not caused by the affected property’s current owner or operator. We could be held responsible for all cleanup costs at a site, whether currently or formerly owned or operated, regardless of fault, knowledge, timing or cause of the contamination. Further, under CERCLA and analogous laws, we may be jointly and severally liable for contamination at third party sites where we or our predecessors in interest have sent waste for treatment or disposal, even if we complied with applicable laws. In addition, we may face liability for personal injury, property damage and natural resource damage resulting from environmental conditions attributable to hazardous substance releases at or from facilities we currently own or operate or formerly owned or operated or to which we sent waste. As such, a product spill or emission at one of our facilities or otherwise resulting from our operations could have adverse consequences on the environment and surrounding community and could result in significant liabilities with respect to investigation and remediation.

Our facilities have an extended history of industrial use, and soil and groundwater contamination exists at some of our sites. As of December 31, 2017,2020, we had current investigation, remediation or monitoring obligations at several of our current or former sites, including Rahway, New Jersey; Dominguez, California; Martinez, California; and Tacoma, Washington. As of December 31, 2017,2020, we had established reserves of approximately $4.1$2.7 million to cover anticipated expenses at these sites, all of which have reached relatively mature stages of either the investigation, remediation or monitoring process. Actual costs to complete these projects may exceed our current estimates. In addition, we have unresolved liability at several sites to which we or our predecessors allegedly arranged for the disposal or treatment of hazardous wastes. For example, at the Boyertown Sanitary Disposal site in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, we are participating in a group of parties who disposed of materials at the site to fund investigatory and remedial work.

As of December 31, 2017,2020, our total reserves associated with environmental remediation and enforcement matters were $5.8$4.1 million. In addition to the ongoing remediation and monitoring activities discussed above, there is risk that the long-term industrial use at our facilities may have resulted in, or may in the future result in, contamination that has yet to be discovered, which could require additional, unplanned investigation and remediation efforts by us for which no reserves have been established, potentially without regard to whether we knew of, or caused, the release of such hazardous substances.contaminants. Discovery of additional or unknown conditions at our facilities could have an adverse impact on our business by substantially increasing our capital expenditures, including compliance, investigation and remediation costs. Such environmental liabilities attached to our properties, or for properties that we are otherwise responsible for, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.

Certain of our operations result in emissions of greenhouse gases (“GHGs”), such as carbon dioxide. Growing concern about the sources and impacts of global climate change has led to a number of domestic and foreign legislative and administrative measures, both proposed and enacted, to monitor, regulate and limit carbon dioxide and other GHG emissions. In the European Union, our emissions are regulated under the E.U. Emissions Trading System (the “E.U. ETS”), an E.U.-wide trading scheme for industrial GHG emissions. The E.U. ETS is anticipated to become progressively more stringent over time, including by reducing the number of allowances to emit GHGs that E.U. member states will allocate without charge to industrial facilities. In the United States, the EPA has promulgated federal GHG regulations under the Clean Air Act that affect certain sources. For example, the EPA has issued mandatory GHG reporting requirements, under which our Dominguez, California and Baton Rouge, Louisiana facilities currently report. Moreover, California has enacted the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (“Assembly Bill 32”), a law that establishes a comprehensive program to reduce GHG emissions from all sources throughout the state and contains reporting requirements under which our Dominguez and Martinez facilities currently report. Our Dominguez facility also participates in the emissions trading market established under Assembly Bill 32. Although we believe it is likely that GHG emissions will continue to be regulated in at least some regions of the United States and in other countries (in addition to the European Union) in the future, we cannot yet predict the form such regulation will take (such as a cap-and-trade program, technology mandate, emissions tax or other regulatory mechanism) or, consequently, estimate any costs that we may be required to incur in respect of such requirements, which could, for example, require that we install emission control equipment, purchase emissions allowances, administer and manage our GHG emissions program or address other regulatory obligations. Such requirements could also adversely affect our energy supply or the costs and types of raw materials that we use for fuel. Accordingly, regulations controlling or limiting GHG emissions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations, including by reducing demand for our products.

Certain of the hazards and risks associated with our manufacturing processes and the related storage and transportation of raw materials, products and wastes may disrupt production at our manufacturing facilities and the distribution of products to our customers. These potentially disruptive risks include, but are not limited to, the following:

These hazards could expose employees, customers, the community and others to toxic chemicals and other hazards, contaminate the environment, damage property, result in personal injury or death, lead to an interruption or suspension of operations, damage our reputation and adversely affect the productivity and profitability of a particular manufacturing facility or our business as a whole. Such hazards could also result in the need for remediation, governmental enforcement, regulatory shutdowns, the imposition of government fines and penalties and claims brought by governmental entities or third parties. Legal claims and regulatory actions could subject us to both civil and criminal penalties, which could affect our product sales, reputation and profitability.

If disruptions at our manufacturing facilities or in our distribution channels occur, alternative options with sufficient capacity or capabilities may not be available, may cost substantially more or may require significant time to start production or distribution. Any of these scenarios could negatively affect our business and financial performance. If one of our manufacturing facilities or distribution channels is unable to produce or distribute our products for an extended period of time, our sales may be reduced by the shortfall caused by the disruption and we may not be able to meet our customers’ needs, which could cause them to seek other suppliers. Furthermore, to the extent a production disruption occurs at a manufacturing facility that has been operating at or near full capacity, the resulting shortage of our product could be particularly harmful because production at the manufacturing facility may not be able to reach levels achieved prior to the disruption. Such risks are heightened in our refining services product group,Refining Services segment, which has operations and customers primarily located in the Gulf Coast, which is susceptible to a heightened risk of hurricanes, and Northern California, which is susceptible to a heightened risk of earthquakes. For example, in August 2017 we shut down our Houston and Baytown refining services facilities in coordination with our refinery partners in anticipation of Hurricane Harvey. The operational interruption at these facilities negatively impacted our sales in 2017 by approximately $7.7 million.

We maintain property, business interruption, casualty and other types of insurance, but such insurance may not cover all risks associated with the operation of our business or our manufacturing process and the related use, storage and transportation of raw materials, products and wastes in or from our manufacturing sites or distribution centers. While we have purchased what we deem to be adequate limits of coverage and broadly worded policies, our coverage is subject to exclusions and limitations, including higher self-insured retentions or deductibles and maximum limits and liabilities covered. Notwithstanding diligent efforts to successfully procure specialty coverage for environmental liability and remediation, we may incur losses beyond the limits or outside the terms of coverage of our insurance policies, including liabilities for environmental remediation. In addition, from time to time, various types of insurance for companies in the industries in which we operate have not been available on commercially acceptable terms or, in some cases, at all. We are potentially at additional risk if one or more of our insurance carriers fail. Additionally, severe disruptions in the domestic and global financial markets could adversely impact the ratings and survival of some insurers. Future downgrades in the ratings of enough insurers could adversely impact both the availability of appropriate insurance coverage and its cost. In the future, we may not be able to obtain coverage at current levels, if at all, and our premiums may increase significantly on coverage that we maintain.

Our products provide important performance attributes to our customers’ products. If a product fails to perform in a manner consistent with quality specifications, or has a shorter useful life than that which was guaranteed, a customer could seek replacement of the product or damages for costs incurred as a result of the product failing to perform as guaranteed. A successful claim or series of claims against us could cause reputational harm and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations and could result in a loss of one or more customers.

We may selectively pursue complementary acquisitions, such as the Business Combination, and joint ventures, such as ourthe Zeolyst Joint Venture, each of which inherently involves a number of risks and presents financial, managerial and operational challenges, including:

In addition, we may encounter unforeseen obstacles or costs in the integration of acquired businesses. For example, the presence of one or more material liabilities of an acquired company that are unknown to us at the time of acquisition may have a material adverse effect on our business. Our acquisition and joint venture strategy may not be received positively by customers, and we may not realize any anticipated benefits from acquisitions or joint ventures.

We may also opportunistically pursue dispositions of certain assets and businesses, which may involve material amounts of assets or lines of business, andwhich could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity. If any such dispositions were to occur, under the terms of the agreements governing our outstanding indebtedness, we may be required to apply the proceeds of the sale to repay such indebtedness.

The pro formaIn addition, our strategic acquisitions and non-GAAPdispositions may also affect the diversity of our assets and our capital structure. As a result, our acquisitions and dispositions could affect our business, results of operations, financial information included in this Form 10-K is presented for informational purposes onlycondition, and liquidity. Further, all the risks associated with our acquisitions and dispositions may not be an indicationimmediately known to us, and the anticipated benefits of our financial conditionsuch acquisition or results of operations in the future.

On December 14, 2020, we completed the sale of our Performance Materials business to Potters Buyer, LLC, an affiliate of The non-GAAP financial information included in this Form 10-K includes informationJordan Company, L.P., for a purchase price of $650.0 million, which was subject to certain adjustments for indebtedness, working capital, and cash at the closing of the transaction.

On March 1, 2021, we announced that we useentered into a definitive agreement to evaluatesell our past performance, but you should not consider such informationPerformance Chemicals business to a partnership established by Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. and Koch Mineral & Trading LLC for a purchase price of $1.1 billion, which is subject to certain adjustments including for indebtedness, cash, working capital and transaction expenses. The transaction is expected to be completed in isolation or as an alternative2021, subject to measures of our performance determined under GAAP.

We currently participate in a number of joint ventures and may enter into additional joint ventures in the future. The nature of a joint venture requires us to share control with unaffiliated third parties and we sometimes have joint and several liability with our joint venture partners. If our joint venture partners do not fulfill their obligations, or if differences in views among the joint venture participants results in delayed decisions or failures to agree on major issues, the affected joint venture may not be able to operate according to its business plan. For example, ourthe Zeolyst Joint Venture is structured as a general partnership in which we are equal partners with CRI Zeolites Inc.Shell Catalysts & Technologies, an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell plc. or “Shell”. Accordingly, we do not control the Zeolyst Joint Venture and cannot unilaterally undertake strategies, plans, goals and operations or determine when cash distributions will be made to us. Furthermore, we are liable on a joint and several basis with CRI Zeolites Inc.Shell Catalysts & Technologies, an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell plc. or “Shell” for all of the partnership’s liabilities if it does not have sufficient assets to satisfy such liabilities. Such factors may adversely affect our results of operation and force us to dedicate additional and unexpected resources to our joint ventures.

Protection of our proprietary processes, methods, compounds and other technologies is important to our business. We depend upon our ability to develop and protect our intellectual property rights to distinguish our products from those of our competitors. Failure to protect our existing intellectual property rights may allow our competitors to copy our products and may result in the loss of valuable proprietary technologies or other intellectual property. Failure to protect our innovations and trademarks by securing intellectual property rights could also result in our having to pay other companies for infringing on their intellectual property rights. We rely on a combination of patent, trade secret, trademark and copyright law as well as regulatory and judicial enforcement to protect such technologies and trademarks. In addition, the laws of many foreign countries do not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. As of December 31, 2017,2020, we owned 4639 patented inventions in the United States, with approximately 332286 patents issued in countries around the world and approximately 12869 patent applications pending worldwide covering more than 2511 additional inventions. Some of these patents are licensed to others. In addition, we have acquired certain rights under patents and inventions of others through licenses. Should any of these licenses granted to us by third parties terminate prior to the expiration of the licensed intellectual property, we would need to cease using the licensed intellectual property, and either develop or license alternative technologies. In such a case, there can be no assurance that alternative technologies exist or that we would be able to obtain such a license on favorable terms.

Competitors and third parties may infringe on our patents or violate our intellectual property rights. Defending and enforcing our intellectual property rights can involve litigation and can be expensive and time consuming. Such proceedings could put our patents at risk of being invalidated and confidential information may be disclosed through the discovery process; these costs and diversion of resources could harm our business.

We cannot provide any assurances that any of our pending applications will mature into issued patents, or that any patents that have issued or may issue in the future do or will include claims with a scope sufficient to provide any competitive advantage. Patents involve complex legal and factual questions and, therefore, the issuance, scope, validity and enforceability of any patent claims we have or may obtain cannot be predicted with certainty. Patents may be challenged, deemed unenforceable, invalidated or circumvented. Patents may be challenged in the courts, as well as in various administrative proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office or foreign patent offices. We are currently and may in the future be a party to various adversarial patent office proceedings involving our patents or the patents of third parties. Such challenges can result in some or all of the claims of the challenged patent being invalidated, deemed unenforceable, or interpreted narrowly which, in the case of challenges to our own patents, may be adverse to our interests. Accordingly, the issuance of patents is not conclusive of the validity, scope, or enforceability of such patents. Moreover, even if valid and enforceable, competitors may be able to design around our patents or use pre-existing technologies to compete with us.

We also rely upon unpatented proprietary know-how, continuing technological innovation and other trade secrets to develop and maintain our competitive position, which may not provide us with complete protection against competitors. Misappropriation or unauthorized disclosure of our proprietary know-how could harm our competitive position or have an adverse effect on our business. While it is our policy to enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees and third parties to protect our intellectual property rights and we strive to maintain the physical security of our properties and the security of our IT systems, there can be no assurances that:

In addition, there can be no assurances that others will not obtain knowledge of these trade secrets through independent development or other access by legal means.

Measures taken by us to protect these assets and rights may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or proprietary manufacturing expertise and adequate remedies may not be available in the event of an unauthorized use or disclosure of our trade secrets or manufacturing expertise. In addition, as noted above, our patents and other intellectual property rights may be challenged, invalidated, circumvented or rendered unenforceable.

Furthermore, we cannot provide assurance that any pending patent or trademark application filed by us will result in an issued patent or registered trademark or, if patents are issued to us, that those patents will provide meaningful protection against competitors or against competitive technologies. The failure of our patents or other measures to protect our processes, apparatuses, technology, trade secrets and proprietary manufacturing expertise, methods and compounds or trademarks and provide us with freedom to exclude competition could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. See “Business-Intellectual Property.”

Our industry is characterized by vigilant pursuit of intellectual property rights, particularly with respect to our silica catalysts and zeolite catalysts product groups. Like us, our competitors rely on intellectual property rights to maintain profitability and competitiveness. As the number of products and competitors has increased, the likelihood of intellectual property disputes has risen. Although it is our policy and intention not to infringe valid patents of which we are aware, our processes, apparatuses, technology, proprietary manufacturing expertise, methods, compounds and products may infringe on issued patents or infringe or misappropriate other intellectual property rights of others. Accordingly, we continually monitor third-party intellectual property to confirm our freedom to operate. Nevertheless, we may be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of our business, including claims of alleged infringement of the patents or trademarks or infringement or misappropriation of other intellectual property rights of third parties by us or our licensees in connection with their use of our products. Intellectual property litigation is expensive and time-consuming, regardless of the merits of any claim, and could divert the attention of our management and technical personnel away from operating our business. If we were to discover that our processes, apparatuses, technology, products or trademarks infringe the valid intellectual property rights of others, we might need to obtain licenses from these parties or substantially reengineer or rebrand our products in order to avoid infringement. We may not be able to obtain the necessary licenses on acceptable terms, or at all, or be able to reengineer our products successfully or at an acceptable cost. Moreover, if we are sued for infringement and lose the suit, we could be required to pay substantial damages and/or be enjoined from using or selling the infringing products or technology or using the infringing trademark. Additionally or alternatively, we may seek to challenge third-party patents in administrative proceedings before the United States patent office or one or more foreign patent offices. Any of the foregoing could cause us to incur significant costs and prevent us from selling our products, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Even if we ultimately prevail, the existence of lawsuits could prompt our customers to switch to alternative products. In addition, we have agreed, and will continue to agree, to indemnify certain customers for certain intellectual property infringement claims related to intellectual property relating to our products and the manufacture thereof. Should there be infringement claims against our licensees, we could be required to indemnify them for losses resulting from such claims or to refund amounts they have paid to us.

We use computers and telecommunication systems to analyze and store financial and operating data and to communicate within our company, with information technology risks could adversely affect our operations.

Our operations are conducted through our subsidiaries and joint ventures. As a result, our ability to make adjustmentsfuture dividend payments, if any, is dependent on the earnings of our subsidiaries and joint ventures and the payment of those earnings to control compensationus in the form of dividends, loans or advances and benefit costs,through repayment of loans or advances from us. Payments to us by our subsidiaries and joint ventures will be contingent upon our subsidiaries’ or joint ventures’ earnings and other business considerations and may be subject to statutory or contractual restrictions. We have not and do not currently intend to pay regular dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future; however, we paid a special cash dividend in December 2020 and have announced an intent to pay a special cash dividend of $2.50 to $3.25 per share, subject to board approval and declaration, to be financed with the cash proceeds from our anticipated sale of our Performance Chemicals business. To the extent that we determine in the future to pay dividends on our common stock, the agreements governing our outstanding indebtedness significantly restrict the ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends or otherwise adapttransfer assets to changing business needs,us.

We are subjectrequired to certain risks relatedtest goodwill and any other intangible asset with an indefinite life for possible impairment on the same date each year and on an interim basis if there are indicators of a possible impairment. We are also required to litigation filed byevaluate indefinite-lived intangible assets and fixed assets for impairment if there are indicators of a possible impairment.

There is significant judgment required in the analysis of a potential impairment of goodwill, identified intangible assets and fixed assets. If, as a result of a general economic slowdown or against us, as well as administrative and regulatory proceedings, and adverse results may harmdeterioration in one or more of the industries in which we operate or in our business.

The indentures governing our outstanding indebtedness contain a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interest, including restrictions on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, make investments, acquisitions, loans and advances, sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of our assets or incur liens. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Financial Condition, Liquidity and Capital Resources—Debt.” In addition, the restrictive covenants in the agreements governing our senior secured credit facilities require us to maintain specified financial ratios and satisfy other financial condition tests. Our ability to meet these financial ratios and tests can be affected by events beyond our control.

A breach of such covenants could result in an event of default unless we obtain a waiver to avoid such default. If we are unable to obtain a waiver, such a default may allow our creditors to accelerate the related debt and may result in the acceleration of, or default under, any other debt to which a cross-acceleration or cross-default provision applies. In the event our lenders or noteholders accelerate the repayment of our borrowings, we and our subsidiaries may not have sufficient assets to repay that indebtedness.

Because our operations are conducted through our subsidiaries and joint ventures, we are dependentLIBOR, the London interbank offered rate, is the basic rate of interest used in lending between banks on the receipt of distributionsLondon interbank market and dividends or other payments from our subsidiaries and joint ventures for cash to fund our operations and expenses, including to make future dividend payments, if any.

On December 22,July 27, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) was signed into law. The TCJA mandates significant changesUnited Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, announced that it intends to U.S. corporate taxation. Notable legislative changes include a reduction of the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, new additional limitations on the tax deductibility of interest, extensive changes to the regime governing the taxation of foreign earnings, immediate deductions for certain investments instead of deductions for depreciation expense over time, as well as modification or repeal of certain business deductions and credits. Notwithstanding the reduction in the U.S. corporate income tax rate, the overall impact of TCJA remains uncertain, in part because the Treasury Regulations implementing the law have not yet been issued, and our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition could be adversely affected.