Univar Releases its 2017 Sustainability Report

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Oct. 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Univar Inc. (NYSE: UNVR) ("Univar"), a global chemical and ingredient distributor and provider of value-added services, announces the release of its 2017 Sustainability Report.  Now available through the Univar web site at www.univar.com, the report outlines the Company's 2021 sustainability goals while providing updates on the progress made since the previous report released last year.

The report is entitled "Our Home Our Responsibility", which borrows from Univar's first sustainability report released in 2007.  It is also the first report under new president and CEO David Jukes and is the first report to be released since the company became a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative.  Through this commitment, Univar further aligns its sustainability strategy with the ten UNGC principles around environmental, labor, human rights and anti-corruption issues.

"Our commitment to economic, environmental and social sustainability is unwavering. We remain focused on driving positive change within our business and our communities as we expand this approach throughout our supply chains," said David Jukes, president and CEO of Univar.  "This last year has been one of significant progress for Univar as a company and across our key areas of sustainability.  Our focus on sustainable growth allows us to broaden our expectations and accelerate our progress through 2018 and beyond."

Other highlights from the report include an outline of Univar's 2021 sustainability goals, which focus on six key areas of responsibility:

• Energy & Emissions ? Minimize Univar's environmental impact by reducing energy usage and associated emissions.
• Resource Use ? Reduce resource consumption of operations while delivering business growth.
• Responsible Handling ? Protect our people, communities and environment by leading a 'Zero Release' culture to minimize major releases.
• Safety ? Continuously improve Univar's proud safety record, protecting our workforce and demonstrating we are 'Serious about Safety'.
• Sustainable Supply Chain ? Lead on transparency in the supply chain as we responsibly manage and influence the environmental and social impacts of our suppliers.
• Equality & Diversity ? Demonstrate Univar's commitment to providing equal opportunities to all employees, through training, education and reporting.

"These six key areas of responsibility mark a step forward in our journey to a more sustainable future, ensuring greater transparency, accountability and measurability of our actions against our material topics," said Phil Hockaday, vice president, global environmental, health and safety for Univar.  "The baseline for our goals is from our 2016 reporting year, in which we achieved greater confidence in our data across all of our regions."

The 2017 report is also Univar's third report based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and references the latest version of the GRI Standards, which ensures disclosures are as relevant, transparent and comprehensive as possible. 

For a complete review of Univar's progress to a more sustainable future through 2017, please see the full Sustainability Report at: www.univar.com/Safety-Sustainability/.

About Univar

Founded in 1924, Univar (NYSE: UNVR) is a global chemical and ingredient distributor and provider of value-added services, working with leading suppliers worldwide.  Supported by a comprehensive team of sales and technical professionals with deep specialty and market expertise, Univar operates hundreds of distribution facilities throughout North America, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.  Univar delivers tailored customer solutions through a broad product and services portfolio sustained by one of the most extensive industry distribution networks in the world.  For more information, visit www.univar.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which may be beyond our control. We caution you that the forward-looking information presented in this press release is not a guarantee of future events, and that actual events may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking information contained in this press release. In addition, forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "plan," "seek," "comfortable with," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe" or "continue" or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Any forward-looking information presented herein is made only as of the date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or otherwise.

SOURCE Univar Inc.