Item 1. Business

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Ball Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries (collectively, Ball, the company, we or our) is one of the world’s leading suppliers of aluminum packaging for the beverage, personal care and household products industries. The company was organized in 1880 and incorporated in the state of Indiana, United States of America (U.S.), in 1922. Our sustainable, aluminum packaging products are produced for a variety of end uses and are manufactured in facilities around the world. We also provide aerospace and other technologies and services to governmental and commercial customers within our aerospace segment. In 2022, our total consolidated net sales were $15.35 billion. Our packaging businesses were responsible for 87 percent of our net sales, with the remaining 13 percent contributed by our aerospace business.

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Our largest product line is aluminum beverage containers and we also produce extruded aluminum aerosol containers, recloseable aluminum bottles across multiple consumer categories, aluminum slugs and aluminum cups.

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We sell our aluminum packaging products globally to large multinational beverage, personal care and household products companies with which we have developed long-term relationships. This is evidenced by our high customer retention and large number of long-term supply contracts. While we have a diversified customer base, we sell a significant portion of our packaging products to major companies and brands, as well as to numerous regional customers. Our significant customers include top consumer packaging and beverage companies.

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Our aerospace business is a leader in delivering solutions ranging from entire missions to contributing component level expertise through the design, development and manufacture of innovative systems for intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, civil, commercial and national security aerospace markets. It produces spacecraft, instruments and sensors, radio frequency systems and components, data exploitation solutions and a variety of advanced technologies and products that enable weather prediction and climate change monitoring as well as deep space missions.

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We are headquartered in Westminster, Colorado, and our stock is listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BALL.

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Our Strategy

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Our Drive for 10 vision defines our overall business strategy. At its highest level, Drive for 10 is a mindset around perfection, with a greater sense of urgency around our future success. Launched in 2011, Drive for 10 encompasses five strategic levers that are key to growing our businesses and achieving long-term success. These five levers are:

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	●	Maximizing value in our existing businesses

	●	Expanding into new products and capabilities

	●	Aligning ourselves with the right customers and markets

	●	Broadening our geographic reach and

	●	Leveraging our know-how and technological expertise to provide a competitive advantage

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We also maintain a clear and disciplined financial strategy focused on improving shareholder returns by:

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	●	Seeking to deliver comparable diluted earnings per share growth of 10 percent to 15 percent per annum over the long-term

	●	Maximizing cash flow generation

	●	Increasing Economic Value Added (EVA®) dollars

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The cash generated by our businesses is used primarily: (1) to finance the company’s operations, (2) to fund growth capital investments, (3) to service the company’s debt and (4) to return value to our shareholders via stock buybacks and dividend payments. From time to time, we have evaluated and expect to continue to evaluate possible transactions that we believe will benefit the company and our shareholders, which may include strategic acquisitions, divestitures of parts of our company or equity investments. At any time, we may be engaged in discussions or negotiations with respect to possible transactions or may have entered into non-binding letters of intent. There can be no assurance if or when we will enter into any such transactions or the terms of such transactions. The compensation of many of our employees is tied directly to the company’s performance through our EVA®-based incentive programs.

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Sustainability and Circularity

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At Ball Corporation, we believe in our people, our culture and our ability to deliver value to our stakeholders. Like uncompromising integrity and customer focus, sustainability and circularity are part of our Drive for 10 vision and have been a part of who we are since our founding in 1880.

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Our triple bottom-line approach to sustainability – environmental, economic and social – has evolved over the past 20 years and, together with our objective of providing truly circular economic solutions for our customers, is the lens through which we continue to conduct business at every level of our organization. Sustainability and circularity constitute a key part of our business strategy and influence how we manage and operate our businesses, serve our customers, care for the environment and our communities, secure profits and drive long-term prosperity.

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We focus our sustainability and circularity efforts on environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts through the lenses of product stewardship and social impacts, exhibited through our commitment to achieve a science-based 55 percent reduction in our greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions prior to 2050, as well as human capital management, including diversity and inclusion, and community engagement. In our manufacturing operations around the world, we work on continuous improvement of employee safety and engagement, energy and water efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste reduction and recycling. Our commitment extends beyond our walls and includes purchasing aluminum from certified sustainable sources and reducing value chain emissions in order to facilitate achievement of Ball’s and its customers’ GHG reduction objectives.

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Today’s consumers are choosing brands based on their sustainability and circularity credentials. Ball customers understand this growing priority and their unique position in impacting the environment, especially through the packaging materials they use. Infinitely recyclable aluminum unlocks the full potential of packaging to help customers convey their values and purpose to consumers. We are committed to moving toward a truly circular economy, where materials can be – and actually are – used again and again.

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Aluminum cans, bottles and cups are an attractive option for sustainability-conscious brands with commitments to real world recyclability and increasing their usage of recycled materials in consumer packaging. Unlike plastic, glass, cartons or compostable containers, aluminum containers are designed to be recycled infinitely without losing quality and retain a high economic value, pushing aluminum collection, sorting and recycling rates to the highest of any beverage packaging material. That is why 75 percent of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today. In addition, growing sustainability compliance costs for substrates with less favorable circularity credentials continue to see their costs of ownership rise in several regions.

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Aluminum beverage packaging is the leader in real recycling, where the package is collected and then transformed into an item of equal value (product-to-product or material-to-material recycling). In the case of aluminum cans, bottles or cups, which are monomaterial, the aluminum can be recycled and made back into the same product in as little as 60 days. In contrast, only 10 percent of all plastic ever produced has been recycled and is mostly only downcycled. Downcycled products, including but not limited to when plastic is converted to become part of a sneaker or fibers in a carpet, are not sustainable because eventually those products end up in landfills. Real recycling happens when the value of the product being recycled is maintained from one use to another.

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Because recycling aluminum saves resources and uses significantly less energy than primary aluminum production, we are innovating and collaborating with our customers, supply chain, industry groups and other public and private partners to establish and financially support initiatives to increase recycling rates around the world. We work together to create effective collection and recycling systems and educate consumers about the sustainability and circularity benefits of aluminum packaging. During 2022 the company proactively supported further expansion of Deposit Return Systems

(DRS) and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs in several regions. For example, Colorado signed an EPR program into law in 2022 requiring companies who sell packaging products to fund a statewide recycling system to recycle those materials.

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Our aerospace business plays a role in sustainability as well. More and more, our systems are measuring key elements of the physical environment and supporting environmental monitoring and operational weather forecasting programs, as well as providing environmental intelligence on weather, the Earth's climate system, precipitation, drought, GHG emissions and air pollution, as well as wildlife, vegetation and other biodiversity measurements. The data captured through Ball built instruments and satellites enable and enhance understanding of the Earth’s ecosystem and help scientists to pinpoint more accurately what type of GHGs and pollutants are being emitted, where they are coming from, and a precise idea of where they are moving.

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At Ball our sustained long-term success depends not only on our products and our operations, but on an engaged workforce. We continue to invest in recruiting to ensure we have the right people with the right skills in the right roles, and in developing our employees at every level and providing them with opportunities to advance their careers. We also are committed to embracing diversity and providing an inclusive environment where employees can thrive. A focus on diversity among individuals and teams helps to unleash ideas and fuel innovation, which drives growth and economic value throughout our global organization.

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A healthy and sustainable business also depends on thriving communities. Ball’s commitment to the communities where we live and operate is an integral part of our corporate culture, as we continue to support organizations, programs and civic initiatives that advance sustainable livelihoods. Community engagement is how our company and our employees enrich the places where we live and work beyond providing jobs, benefits and paying local taxes. Through the Ball Foundation, corporate giving, employee giving and volunteerism, we invest in the future of the communities that sustain us. In 2022 Ball and its employees donated over $8 million supporting more than 2,800 non-profit organizations and logged more than 30,000 hours of volunteer service to non-profit organizations centered on building sustainable communities through recycling, education, and disaster preparedness and relief initiatives.

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The company’s focus towards sustainability has been recognized by external organizations. For the fourth year in a row, Ball received an A- score in CDP’s climate change program. In addition, Ball maintained a MSCI AA ESG rating, was included on the 2022 Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and was recognized as one of America’s Most Responsible Companies by Newsweek.

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Human Capital and Employees

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Ball Corporation’s people are its greatest asset and we are proud to outline the material aspects of our human capital program. At the end of 2022, the company and its subsidiaries employed approximately 21,000 employees, including approximately 10,300 employees in the U.S. Details of collective bargaining agreements are included within Item 1A, Risk Factors of this annual report.

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Our Culture

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Embracing our rich 143-year history, we “know who we are,” a company that respects and values each of our employees and their collective desire to deliver value to all our stakeholders. We embrace our diversity and are “one Ball” in valuing:

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	●	Uncompromising integrity;

	●	Being close to our customers;

	●	Behaving like owners;

	●	Focusing on attention to detail; and

	●	Being innovative.

Diversity and Inclusion

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Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) is embedded in our Drive for 10 vision and is key to the sustained success of our business. We established a dedicated D&I function in 2015 to build on our longstanding commitment to D&I across the company and included D&I as an integral part of our goals for sustainability. Over the past seven years, we have made meaningful

progress on D&I, which has been recognized by external organizations, including Forbes, which recognized Ball among “America’s Best Employers for Diversity” in 2019, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), which recognized Ball as a best place to work for disability inclusion on the 2022 Disability Equality Index, and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, which listed Ball among the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality” in five out of the last six years, including a perfect score on its Corporate Equality Index list in 2021 and 2022. Our dedicated D&I function reports directly to our Chief Human Resources Officer, and we understand that the key to success is shared accountability rather than designating a single owner for this critical area. Our focus to date has been on providing unconscious bias training for our global workforce, continuing to expand our Ball Network and Interest Groups (BNIs) in terms of quantity and geography and increasing awareness about the importance of D&I and each employee’s role in ensuring that we have a culture where people can bring their authentic selves to work and thrive. While we are proud of our progress, we know there is more work to do.

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As we move forward, we are accelerating our D&I efforts with a sense of urgency. In June 2020, we instituted a new global cloud-based human capital management platform that has – among many other talent-focused features – enabled us to more fully understand employee demographics and identify how we can better enhance our diversity around the world. Going into 2023, we plan to introduce tools for inclusion in our learning management system to enhance the unconscious bias training we provide to our global workforce. We will also enhance the purpose and mission of our BNIs to better serve overall business objectives and will be preparing to launch an Inclusion Council led by our Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion and sponsored by our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer. We continue to evolve our talent acquisition process and focus on diversity for internships, candidate slates, interview panels, talent reviews and succession planning. Each of our business segment leaders has committed to help drive further D&I progress during 2023 and beyond. Currently, 67 percent of our board of directors is either gender or ethnically diverse, including five female board members, and 44 percent of our company’s executive leadership team is either gender or ethnically diverse.

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Talent

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We seek to attract, develop and retain the best talent throughout the company. During the past decade, we established and expanded our talent management organization with dedicated talent acquisition and development functions that have implemented rigorous hiring and development processes, including standardized assessments for candidate selection, and an embedded “Inspire, Connect, Achieve” leadership framework, which details clear behaviors that we expect from our people leaders to ensure they align with our culture. We have also strengthened our succession planning through a holistic approach to developing key managers that includes challenging assignments, formal development plans and professional coaching.

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Training and Development

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Our global human capital management platform enables rigorous identification, analysis and development of talent around the world. In conjunction with that platform, the company utilizes an approach to performance management focused on development and continuous improvement. This approach emphasizes ongoing performance conversations between managers and employees and a focus on mitigating bias in performance conversations, resulting in an enhanced employee developmental experience and data points for our talent discussions. Additionally, all employees have access to create a personal development plan and we have resources to support employees in their personal and professional development, including:

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	●	Continuous education through various tuition reimbursement programs, apprenticeship and instructional programs;

	●	A learning management platform that has had significant employee utilization;

	●	Monthly global leadership panel discussions and breakout groups focused on real-time topics, such as supporting team wellbeing, working through stressful times, setting individual development goals, maximizing team performance, sharing practical steps to better enable our collective focus on D&I and sharing other best practice leadership behaviors;

	●	A new LinkedIn Learning platform for all corporate and packaging employees who work in an office setting;

	●	Leadership and personal development coaching opportunities by teaming with BetterUp;

	●	On-going education for people leaders around our Inspire, Connect, and Achieve leadership behaviors; and

	●	Annual compliance, antitrust, bribery, corruption and business code of conduct and ethics training for key management level, sales and supply chain employees.

Employee Engagement

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As part of our Drive for 10 vision, we seek to ensure that everyone at Ball is motivated to perform their best work every day. To further that objective, our engagement approach focuses on clear communication and recognition. We communicate through quarterly employee town hall meetings, at both the corporate and operating division levels, with business and market updates and information on production, safety, quality and other operating metrics. We also communicate company information through news releases, executive communications, digital signage and our weekly Ball eNews through the new BallConnect intranet, which are available to all employees. We have many recognition-oriented awards throughout our company, including our corporate and divisional awards of excellence, the Living Well Cup and global operations plant sustainability awards. We conduct regular company-wide engagement surveys, as well as periodic pulse surveys, which have generally indicated high levels of engagement and trust in Ball’s leadership, key strategies and initiatives.

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Total Rewards

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We have steadily upgraded our total rewards function over the past decade with the ongoing objective of acquiring, rewarding and retaining the best talent by providing total rewards that are competitive and performance based. Our compensation programs, including our long-standing EVA® based incentive plans, reflect our commitment to a pay-for-performance philosophy that drives shareholder value. Total direct compensation is positioned in a competitive range of the applicable market median in each jurisdiction, differentiated based on tenure, skills and performance, and designed to attract and retain the best talent.

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Health, Safety and Wellness

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The health, safety and wellness of all employees is a top priority at Ball. Our environmental, health and safety function and our operations executives partner to consistently reinforce policies and procedures that are designed to reduce workplace risks and ensure safe methods of plant production, including through regular training and reporting on injuries and lost-time incidents. Over the past 15 years, we have sponsored a variety of health and wellness programs designed to enhance the physical and mental well-being of our employees around the world. During 2020, the company expanded access to its existing Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to our entire global workforce. The EAP provides employees and their families access to mental health, stress management and other support resources essential to navigating life changes and challenges.

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Additional information on our human capital programs can be found in the Ball Corporation Combined Report, which is available at www.ball.com/sustainability.

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Our Reportable Segments

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Ball Corporation reports its financial performance in four reportable segments: (1) beverage packaging, North and Central America; (2) beverage packaging, Europe, Middle East and Africa (beverage packaging, EMEA); (3) beverage packaging, South America and (4) aerospace. Ball also has investments in the U.S., Guatemala, Panama and Vietnam that are accounted for using the equity method of accounting and, accordingly, those results are not included in segment sales or earnings. Additional financial information related to each of our segments is included in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K (annual report).

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Beverage Packaging, North and Central America, Segment

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Beverage packaging, North and Central America, is Ball’s largest segment, accounting for 44 percent of consolidated net sales in 2022. Aluminum beverage containers are primarily sold under multi-year supply contracts to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks and other beverages.

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Aluminum beverage containers and ends are produced at 18 manufacturing facilities in the U.S., one in Canada and two in Mexico. The beverage packaging, North and Central America, segment also includes interests in three investments that are accounted for using the equity method. In the third quarter of 2022, Ball announced the permanent closure of its aluminum beverage can manufacturing facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, and St. Paul, Minnesota. The Phoenix facility ceased production in the fourth quarter of 2022, and the St. Paul facility ceased production in the first quarter of 2023.

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According to publicly available information and company estimates, the North American beverage container industry represents approximately 140 billion units. Five companies manufacture substantially all of the aluminum beverage containers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Ball shipped approximately 52 billion aluminum beverage containers in North and Central America in 2022, which represented approximately 37 percent of the aggregate shipments in these countries. Historically, sales volumes of metal beverage containers in North America tend to be highest during the period from April through September. All of the beverage containers produced by Ball in the U.S., Canada and Mexico are made of aluminum. In North and Central America, a diverse base of no fewer than ten global suppliers provide almost all of our aluminum can and end sheet requirements_._

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Beverage containers are sold based on price, quality, service, innovation and sustainability in a highly competitive market, which is relatively capital intensive and characterized by facilities that run more or less continuously in order to operate profitably. In addition, the aluminum beverage container competes aggressively with other packaging materials which include meaningful industry positions by the glass bottle in the packaged beer industry and the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle in the carbonated soft drink and water industries.

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We limit our exposure to changes in the cost of aluminum as a result of the inclusion of provisions in most of our aluminum beverage container sales contracts to pass through aluminum price changes, as well as through the use of derivative instruments.

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Beverage Packaging, EMEA, Segment

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The beverage packaging, EMEA, segment accounted for 25 percent of Ball’s consolidated net sales in 2022. Our EMEA region operations include 17 facilities throughout Europe and one facility each in Cairo, Egypt, and Manisa, Turkey. In the third quarter of 2022, Ball completed the sale of its aluminum beverage packaging business located in Russia, which included three aluminum beverage can manufacturing facilities. For the countries in which we currently operate, not including Russia, the beverage container market is approximately 90 billion containers, and we are the largest producer with an estimated 39 percent of shipments in this region. The regions served by our beverage packaging, EMEA, segment, including Egypt and Turkey, are highly regional in terms of sales growth rates and packaging mix. Four companies manufacture substantially all of the metal beverage containers in EMEA. Our EMEA beverage facilities, not including Russia, shipped 35 billion beverage containers in 2022, all of which were made from aluminum. The company has announced plans to construct additional plants in Pilsen, Czech Republic, and Northamptonshire, U.K. Both facilities are expected to begin production in the first half of 2023.

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Historically, sales volumes of metal beverage containers in EMEA tend to be highest during the period from May through August, with a smaller increase in demand leading up to the winter holiday season in the U.K. Much like in other parts of the world, the aluminum beverage container competes aggressively with other packaging materials used by the beer and carbonated soft drink industries. The glass bottle is heavily utilized in the packaged beer industry, while the PET container is utilized in the carbonated soft drink, beer, juice and water industries. These trends are evolving, however, as customers, regulators and non-governmental organizations continue to press for more sustainable packaging in the wake of the global pollution crisis. More and more brands are choosing aluminum beverage packaging because of its infinite recyclability and other sustainability credentials. Using a new calculation implemented by the European Union (EU) in 2022, the overall recycling rate for aluminum beverage cans in the EU, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland was approximately 73 percent in 2020.

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Raw material supply contracts in this region generally have longer term agreements. Six aluminum suppliers provide almost all of our aluminum can and end sheet requirements. The company minimizes its exchange rate risk using derivative and supply contracts in local currencies. We limit our exposure to changes in the cost of aluminum as a result of the inclusion of provisions in our aluminum beverage container sales contracts to pass through aluminum price changes, as well as through the use of derivative instruments.

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Beverage Packaging, South America, Segment

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The beverage packaging, South America, segment accounted for 14 percent of Ball’s consolidated net sales in 2022. Our operations consist of 12 facilities—9 in Brazil and one each in Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. In the third quarter, Ball permanently ceased operations at its aluminum beverage can manufacturing facility in Santa Cruz, Brazil, and temporarily reduced production across its remaining Brazilian beverage can manufacturing footprint. For the countries where we operate, the South American beverage container market is approximately 40 billion containers, and we are the largest producer in this region with an estimated 46 percent of South American shipments in 2022. Four companies currently manufacture substantially all of the aluminum beverage containers in Brazil.

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The company’s South American beverage facilities shipped approximately 19 billion aluminum beverage containers in 2022. Historically, sales volumes of beverage containers in South America tend to be highest during the period from September through December. In South America, two suppliers provide virtually all our aluminum can and end sheet requirements with certain requirements also being imported from Asia.

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We limit our exposure to changes in the cost of aluminum as a result of the inclusion of provisions in our aluminum beverage container sales contracts to pass through aluminum price changes, as well as through the use of derivative instruments.

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Aerospace Segment

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Ball’s aerospace segment, which accounted for 13 percent of consolidated net sales in 2022, includes national defense hardware, antenna and video tactical solutions, civil and operational space hardware and systems engineering services. The segment develops spacecraft, sensors and instruments, radio frequency systems and other advanced technologies for the civil, commercial and national security aerospace markets. The majority of the aerospace business involves work under contracts, generally from one to five years in duration, as a prime contractor or subcontractor for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other U.S. government agencies. The company competes against both large and small prime contractors and subcontractors for these contracts. Contracts funded by the various agencies of the federal government represented 98 percent of segment sales in 2022.

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Intense competition and long operating cycles are key characteristics of both the company’s business and the aerospace and defense industry. It is common in the aerospace and defense industry for work on major programs to be shared among a number of companies. A company competing to be a prime contractor may, upon ultimate award of the contract to a competitor, become a subcontractor for the ultimate prime contracting company. It is not unusual to compete for a contract award with a peer company and, simultaneously, perform as a supplier to or a customer of that same competitor on other contracts, or vice versa.

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Geopolitical events and shifting executive and legislative branch priorities have resulted in an increase in opportunities over the past decade in areas matching our aerospace segment’s core capabilities in space hardware. The businesses include hardware and services sold primarily to U.S. customers, with emphasis on space science and exploration, climate monitoring, weather prediction, environmental and earth sciences, and defense and intelligence applications. Major activities frequently involve the design, manufacture and testing of satellites, remote sensors and ground station control hardware and software, as well as related services such as launch vehicle integration and satellite operations.

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Other hardware activities include target identification, warning and attitude control systems and components; cryogenic systems for reactant storage, and associated sensor cooling devices; star trackers, which are general-purpose stellar attitude sensors; and fast-steering mirrors.

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Backlog represents the estimated transaction prices on performance obligations to our customers for which work remains to be performed. Backlog in the aerospace segment was $2.97 billion and $2.47 billion at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and consisted of the aggregate contract value of firm orders, excluding amounts previously recognized as revenue. The 2022 backlog includes $1.52 billion expected to be recognized in revenues during 2023, with the remainder expected to be recognized in revenues in the years thereafter. Amounts included in backlog for certain firm government orders, which are subject to annual funding, were $1.61 billion and $1.05 billion at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Year-over-year comparisons of backlog are not necessarily indicative of the trend of future operations, revenues and earnings due to the nature of varying delivery and milestone schedules on contracts, funding of programs and the uncertainty of timing of future contract awards. Uncertainties in the federal government budgeting process could delay the funding, or even result in cancellation of certain programs currently in our reported backlog.

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Other

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Other consists of a non-reportable operating segment (beverage packaging, other) that manufactures and sells aluminum beverage containers in India, Saudi Arabia and Myanmar; a non-reportable operating segment that manufactures and sells extruded aluminum aerosol containers, recloseable aluminum bottles across multiple consumer categories and slugs (aerosol packaging); a non-reportable operating segment that manufactures and sells aluminum cups (aluminum cups); undistributed corporate expenses; intercompany eliminations and other business activities.

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Beverage Packaging, Other

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Our aluminum beverage packaging operations in the beverage packaging, other, segment consist of four facilities – two in India and one each in Saudi Arabia and Myanmar. Our aluminum can and end sheet requirements are provided by several suppliers. Our manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia, Ball United Arab Can Manufacturing Company, is an investment 51 percent owned by Ball and consolidated in our results. Additionally, Ball has ownership interests in an equity method investment in Vietnam. During 2021, Ball sold its minority-owned investment in South Korea. For additional details, refer to Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements within Item 8 of this annual report

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Aerosol Packaging

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Our aluminum aerosol packaging operations manufacture and sell extruded aluminum aerosol containers, recloseable aluminum bottles across multiple consumer categories and aluminum slugs, which represented less than 5 percent of Ball’s consolidated net sales in 2022. There are 9 manufacturing facilities that manufacture these products – four in Europe and one each in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Mexico and India. The aerosol packaging market in these countries shipped approximately 6.6 billion aluminum aerosol units in 2022 and we are one of the major producers in this combined area with shipments of 1.4 billion aluminum aerosol packaging containers, representing approximately 21 percent of total shipments in these markets. Our aluminum aerosol requirements are provided by several suppliers. In 2021, our aerosol business operations launched a new extruded, recloseable aluminum bottle line to provide a circular solution to plastic bottle pollution in personal care and other product categories.

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Aluminum Cups

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The Ball aluminum cups business serves the growing demand for innovative, sustainable beverage packaging among customers and consumers. Aligned with our Drive for 10 vision, the aluminum cups business leverages our years of experience and specialized expertise to provide another environmentally friendly offering to our industry-leading portfolio of aluminum packages. Sturdy, durable and cool to the touch, the infinitely recyclable Ball aluminum cup is produced at a dedicated manufacturing facility in Rome, Georgia. Ball plans to introduce additional offerings to round out its cups portfolio and intends to expand adoption of the cups to drinking establishments, parks and recreation, colleges and universities, hospitality, restaurants, retail, business and industry.

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Patents

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In the opinion of the company’s management, none of our active patents or groups of patents is material to the successful operation of our business as a whole. We manage our intellectual property portfolio to obtain the durations necessary to achieve our business objectives.

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Research and Development

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Research and development (R&D) efforts in our packaging segments are primarily directed toward packaging innovation, specifically the development of new features, sizes, shapes and types of containers, as well as new uses for existing containers. Other R&D efforts in these segments seek to improve manufacturing efficiencies and the overall sustainability of our products. Our packaging R&D activities are primarily conducted in a technical center located in Westminster, Colorado.

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In our aerospace business, we continue to focus our R&D activities on the design, development and manufacture of innovative aerospace products and systems. This includes the production of spacecraft, instruments and sensors, radio frequency and system components, data exploitation solutions and a variety of advanced aerospace technologies and products that enable deep space missions. Our aerospace R&D activities are conducted at various locations in the U.S.

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Additional information regarding company R&D activity is contained in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements within Item 8 of this annual report, as well as in Item 2, Properties.

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Where to Find More Information

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Ball Corporation is subject to the reporting and other information requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act). Reports and other information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pursuant to the Exchange Act may be inspected and copied at the public reference facility maintained by the SEC in Washington, D.C. The SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov containing our reports, proxy materials and other items. The company also maintains a website at www.ball.com/investors on which it provides a link to access Ball’s SEC reports free of charge, under the link “Financials.”

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The company has established written Ball Corporation Corporate Governance Guidelines; a Ball Corporation Executive Officers and Board of Directors Business Ethics Statement; a Business Ethics Code of Conduct; and charters for its Audit Committee, Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee, Human Resources Committee and Finance Committee. These documents are available on the company’s website at www.ball.com/investors, under the link “Corporate Governance.” A copy may also be obtained upon request from the company’s corporate secretary. The company’s combined report and updates on Ball’s sustainability progress are available at www.ball.com/sustainability.

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The company intends to post on its website the nature of any amendments to the company’s codes of ethics that apply to executive officers and directors, including the chief executive officer, chief financial officer and controller, and the nature of any waiver or implied waiver from any code of ethics granted by the company to any executive officer or director. These postings will appear on the company’s website at www.ball.com/investors, under the link “Corporate Governance.”

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Nothing on our website, including postings to the “Corporate Governance” and “Financials” pages, or the Ball Corporation Sustainability Report, or sections thereof, shall be deemed incorporated by reference into this annual report.

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