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Leases | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2023
Leases |
Leases | 7. Leases Our operating lease activities primarily consist of leases for real estate, landfills (as discussed further in Note 2) and operating equipment. Our financing lease activities primarily consist of leases for operating equipment, railcars and landfill assets. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less, which are not expected to be renewed beyond one year, are not recorded on the balance sheet and are recognized as lease expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Most leases include one or more options to renew, with renewal terms generally ranging from one to 10 years. The exercise of lease renewal options is generally at our sole discretion. We include the renewal term in the calculation of the right-of-use asset and related lease liability when such renewals are reasonably certain of being exercised. Certain leases also include options to purchase the leased property. The depreciable life of assets and leasehold improvements is limited by the expected lease term, unless there is a transfer of title or purchase option reasonably certain of exercise. Certain of our lease agreements include rental payments based on usage and other lease agreements include rental payments adjusted periodically for inflation; these payments are treated as variable lease payments. Our lease agreements do not contain any material residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants. When the implicit interest rate is not readily available for our leases, we discount future cash flows of the remaining lease payments using the current interest rate that would be paid to borrow on collateralized debt over a similar term, or incremental borrowing rate, at the commencement date. Supplemental balance sheet information for our leases as of December 31 is as follows (in millions):
​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
Leases |  | Classification |  | 2023 |  | 2022
Assets |  | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
Long-term: |  | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
Operating | ​ | Other assets | ​ | $ | 453 | ​ | $ | 456
Financing | ​ | Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation and depletion | ​ | ​ | 393 | ​ | ​ | 328
Total lease assets | ​ | ​ | ​ | $ | 846 | ​ | $ | 784
​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
Liabilities | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
Current: | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
Operating | ​ | Accrued liabilities | ​ | $ | 66 | ​ | $ | 64
Financing | ​ | Current portion of long-term debt | ​ | ​ | 53 | ​ | ​ | 44
Long-term: | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
Operating | ​ | Other liabilities | ​ | ​ | 452 | ​ | ​ | 460
Financing | ​ | Long-term debt, less current portion | ​ | ​ | 321 | ​ | ​ | 258
Total lease liabilities | ​ | ​ | ​ | $ | 892 | ​ | $ | 826
​ Operating lease expense was $189 million, $183 million and $155 million during 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and is included in operating and selling, general and administrative expenses in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. Financing lease expense was $58 million, $55 million and $58 million during 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and is included in depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and interest expense, net in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. Minimum contractual obligations for our leases (undiscounted) as of December 31, 2023 are as follows (in millions): ​
​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​ | ​
​ |  | ​ | Operating |  | ​ | Financing
2024 |  | $ | 79 | ​ | $ | 65
2025 |  | ​ | 69 | ​ | ​ | 72
2026 |  | ​ | 61 | ​ | ​ | 52
2027 |  | ​ | 52 | ​ | ​ | 44
2028 | ​ | ​ | 45 | ​ | ​ | 33
Thereafter | ​ | ​ | 399 | ​ | ​ | 215
Total undiscounted lease payments | ​ | $ | 705 | ​ | $ | 481
Less: interest | ​ | ​ | (187) | ​ | ​ | (107)
Discounted lease liabilities | ​ | $ | 518 | ​ | $ | 374
​ As of December 31, 2023, we entered into operating leases, primarily for real estate that have not yet commenced and therefore are not reflected in the table above, with future lease payments of $57 million. These leases commence through 2024 and have lease terms up to 16 years. Cash paid during 2023 for our operating and financing leases was $77 million and $60 million, respectively. Cash paid during 2022 for our operating and financing leases was $76 million and $56 million, respectively. During 2023, right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for lease obligations for our operating and financing leases were $62 million and $121 million, respectively. During 2022, right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for lease obligations for our operating and financing leases were $69 million and $33 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2023, the weighted average remaining lease terms of our operating and financing leases were approximately 19 years and 10 years, respectively. The weighted average discount rates used to determine the lease liabilities as of December 31, 2023 for our operating and financing leases were approximately 3.4% and 4.2%, respectively.

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