Univar Solutions Inc.
Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2020, 2022)
Reporting Period: 2020
Environmental Metrics
Total Carbon Emissions:141,728 tCO2e/year (Scope 1 & 2)
Scope 1 Emissions:111,048 tCO2e/year
Scope 2 Emissions:30,680 tCO2e/year
Scope 3 Emissions:41,493 tCO2e/year
Renewable Energy Share:0.29% of total energy use (2020)
Total Energy Consumption:600,915 MWh/year
Water Consumption:705,047 m3/year (Total Extracted)
Waste Generated:10,435 tons/year (Hazardous)
ESG Focus Areas
- Safety
- Climate Change
- Resource Use
- Sustainable Supply Chain
- Responsible Handling
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- Community Involvement
- Governance
- Ethics
Environmental Achievements
- Reduced energy intensity by 13.5% from 2016.
- Reduced emission intensity by 20.9% from 2016.
- Reduced significant chemical releases by 38% from 2016.
- Reduced hazardous waste intensity by 12% from 2016.
Social Achievements
- Reduced recordable safety incidents by more than 37 percent from 2019.
- Improved global rating on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index to 100/100.
- Employees completed over 70,000 hours of training (7.4 hours per employee).
Governance Achievements
- Achieved signatory status with CEO Action for advancing DEI.
- Scored 100 on the Corporate Equality Index (CEI).
Climate Goals & Targets
Long-term Goals:
- Achieve net-zero direct emissions by 2050.
Medium-term Goals:
- Reduce scope 1&2 CO2e by 40% by 2030 (from 2019/2020 baseline).
Short-term Goals:
- Reduce scope 1&2 CO2e by 20% by 2025 (from 2019/2020 baseline).
- Reduce hazardous waste by 15% by 2025 (from 2019/2020 baseline).
- Triple non-hazardous waste reuse, recovery and recycling rates by 2025 (from 2019/2020 baseline).
- Reduce water waste by 15% by 2025 (from 2019/2020 baseline).
Environmental Challenges
- COVID-19 pandemic impacting business operations and emissions.
- Social unrest and racial injustice.
- Supply chain disruptions.
- Data limitations and exclusions.
Mitigation Strategies
- Implemented remote working and COVID-19 protocols.
- Developed a multiyear DEI strategy.
- Developed alternative sourcing strategies.
- Improved data quality and reassessment of waste data.
Supply Chain Management
Supplier Audits: Assessed over 180 new suppliers in 2020.
Responsible Procurement
- Supplier Code of Conduct (to be implemented in 2021)
- Supplier assessments on environmental, social, and ethical considerations.
Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities
Physical Risks
- Extreme weather events
Transition Risks
- Regulatory changes, market shifts
Opportunities
- Development of energy-efficient products
Reporting Standards
Frameworks Used: GRI Standards Core option, SASB Chemical sector disclosures, UN Global Compact
Third-party Assurance: ERM Certification and Verification Services (limited assurance)
UN Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 7
- SDG 8
- SDG 9
- SDG 10
- SDG 12
- SDG 13
- SDG 16
- SDG 17
The report details how various initiatives contribute to these goals.
Sustainable Products & Innovation
- Enviro-Syn® HCRTM Modified / Synthetic AciTM systems
- Modified Caustic systems (CSR)
- Ecocert®- and Cosmos®-certified Korean flower extracts
- Ecocert®-certified surfactant and solubilizer options
- Organic butters
- Low VOC products
Awards & Recognition
- Great Place to Work Certification™ in Brazil
Reporting Period: 2022
Environmental Metrics
Total Carbon Emissions:122,726 tCO2e/year (Scopes 1 & 2)
Scope 1 Emissions:93,835 tCO2e/year
Scope 2 Emissions:28,891 tCO2e/year
Scope 3 Emissions:9,103,638 tCO2e/year
Renewable Energy Share:10.29% of all electricity use
Total Energy Consumption:527,659 MWh/year
Water Consumption:466,152 m3/year (wastewater)
Waste Generated:7,731 tons/year (hazardous)
Carbon Intensity:45.98 tCO2e per $M sales (2022)
ESG Focus Areas
- Climate Action
- Resource Use
- Release Prevention
- Sustainable Solutions
- Serious About Safety
- Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
- Community Engagement
- Corporate Governance
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Business Ethics
- Sustainable Sourcing
Environmental Achievements
- Reduced absolute Scopes 1 and 2 emissions by 16.31 percent from our baseline.
- Reduced absolute hazardous waste totals by 25.3 percent compared to our baseline.
- Disclosed our second year of Scope 3 emissions and delivered reductions in key areas, resulting in an intensity reduction of 25.26 percent of our overall Scope 3 emissions.
Social Achievements
- Experienced our safest year on record since 2015, reducing our global Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR) by 30 percent to 0.33 in 2022, compared to our baseline of 0.47.
- Increased diverse representation rates on gender and ethnicity at the people-leader level, achieving one of our targets ahead of schedule.
- Significantly evolved our community engagement program, launching our COMMUNITY BONDS program and opening more volunteering opportunities for our employees.
Governance Achievements
- Strengthened our sustainable sourcing activities, rolling out our Supplier Code of Conduct to new suppliers and hundreds of legacy suppliers in the US, covering over 32.5 percent of our product suppliers (measured by spend).
- Commenced our global supplier sustainability assessment program, centered on employing the EcoVadis supply chain sustainability platform, with 44.5 percent of our product suppliers (measured by spend).
- Increased our company’s third-party ratings across the majority of our assessment platforms.
Climate Goals & Targets
Long-term Goals:
- Achieve net-zero direct emissions by 2050.
Medium-term Goals:
- 20 percent absolute reduction in Scopes 1 and 2 CO2e by 2025 against baseline.
- 40 percent absolute reduction in Scopes 1 and 2 CO2e by 2030 against baseline.
- Assess 80 percent of our suppliers (measured by spend) on their sustainability performance, with minimum standards for those assessed being met by 2025.
Short-term Goals:
- Reduce water waste 15 percent by 2025 against baseline.
- Reduce significant chemical releases 40 percent by 2025 (against our baseline).
Environmental Challenges
- global economic fluctuations
- ongoing geopolitical tensions
- supply chain disruptions
- significant increase in significant releases (29 percent increase)
Mitigation Strategies
- Investing in low-carbon technology ($3 million in 2021)
- Sourcing renewable energy
- Increasing fuel and energy source diversity
- Maintaining site sustainability assessments
- Strengthening policies and processes to facilitate accelerated transition to sustainable technologies
- Engaging our supply chain in emissions reductions activities and data sharing
- “All in on release prevention” campaign for 2023
- focus on coaching and training our front-line operators
Supply Chain Management
Supplier Audits: 44.5% of suppliers (by spend) assessed via EcoVadis
Responsible Procurement
- Global Supplier Code of Conduct
- Integration of ESG criteria into supplier onboarding and assessments
- Supplier ESG assessments supported by EcoVadis
Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities
Reporting Standards
Frameworks Used: GRI Universal Standards, SASB for the Chemical Industry, UNGC, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), TCFD
Third-party Assurance: ERM Certification and Verification Services (ERM CVS)
UN Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 2
- SDG 3
- SDG 5
- SDG 7
- SDG 8
- SDG 9
- SDG 10
- SDG 12
- SDG 13
- SDG 16
- SDG 17
The report details how various initiatives contribute to these goals throughout the document.
Sustainable Products & Innovation
- Sustainable and Natural Products (SNP) Framework, initial portfolio of 100 SKUs launched
Awards & Recognition
- Low ESG risk rating by Sustainalytics (top 14 percent of industry)
- Newsweek's America's Most Responsible Companies 2023 List
- Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation (100 on CEI)
- Great Place To Work® in Brazil and Mexico
- The Complete Package Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society