Owning the last mile: Supply chain sustainability

What are the biggest challenges that lie ahead for global industries becoming more sustainable?

The Smart Acids talk technical with leaders in environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and governance roles at Univar Solutions. Sustainability can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Here's how our guests describe what it means to chemical and ingredient businesses:

Kelly Gilroy, VP of sustainability and natural products (12:22): "Efficiency. Think people, planet, and profits. We've got to move from a take, make, and waste society to things like repair, reuse, and reintegrate. When you think about distribution, we're by nature a sustainable business – we take large quantities of materials and make them available to 100,000+ customers. My first big project is finding a way to take sustainability down to the product level."

Liam McCarroll, director of global sustainability (1:56): "It's not about greenwashing. Embedding sustainability into the business...and achieving that across the organization is a challenge. We already support customers in getting products and services on time, with great quality. We have to continue doing that and building sustainability into every part, from the beginning to the end of the customer experience."

🏆 Bonus game in this episode: Do you know your Liams? (2:54)


Smart Acids™ is the source for product insights and current market moves related to chemical and specialty ingredient distribution—breaking it all down one boron at a time. Join hosts Andy Erickson and Chris Ernst for straightforward and honest chat that speaks to the why behind pricing and supply, delivered in a smart, fun and entertaining way.

About the hosts: Andy Erickson, director of product marketing, Essential Chemicals, and Chris Ernst, senior director of product marketing, Solvents, converse with guests from chemistry and specialty ingredient backgrounds who are keyed in to manufacturing and markets across industries.

Smart Acids™ is the source for product insights and current market moves related to chemical and specialty ingredient distribution—breaking it all down one boron at a time. Join hosts Andy Erickson and Chris Ernst for straightforward and honest chat that speaks to the why behind pricing and supply, delivered in a smart, fun and entertaining way. Smart Acids is the winner of a B2 Silver Award, a top national recognition among leading global brands and marketers in B2B.

About the hosts: Andy Erickson, senior director of product marketing for essential chemicals, and Chris Ernst, senior director of product marketing for solvents, converse with guests from chemistry and specialty ingredient backgrounds who are keyed in to manufacturing and markets across industries.

Univar Solutions is a leading global specialty chemical and ingredient distributor representing a premier portfolio from the world's leading producers, and helping to keep communities healthy, fed, clean and safe. With the industry's largest private transportation fleet and technical sales force, unparalleled logistics know-how, deep market and regulatory knowledge, formulation and recipe development, and leading digital tools, we offer tailored solutions and value-added services to a wide range of markets, industries and applications.