Welcome to The Chemical Show, the podcast where Chemical means business.
I'm your host, Victoria Meyer, bringing you stories and insights
from leaders driving innovation and growth across the chemical industry.
Each week we explore key trends, real world challenges, and the
strategies that make an impact.
Let's get started.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Welcome back to The Chemical Show.
Today I am speaking with Mitch Tome, who is the VP of Sustainability
and responsible care at ACC, the American Chemistry Council.
Mitch has a mix of public and private sector experience, um, across a
variety of roles in sustainability and strategy, including with
United Nations and with BASF.
Before he joined a c.
C in 2022, Mitch and I are gonna have a great conversation about the
business case for sustainability, why sustainability still matters and more.
Mitch, welcome to the Chemical Show.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: Thank you.
It's great to be here.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Great to have you.
Let's start with your origin story.
What got you interested in sustainability and ultimately into chemicals?
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: Um, it's a, it's an interesting route.
Um, and I, I started, uh, in kind of management consulting and on the
business side, when looking at ways to eliminate waste and inefficiency
in businesses, really looking at it just from the bottom line perspective,
as you normally would in, in a.
in a management consulting assignment.
what I found was that the efficiencies gained by doing a, a better, a, a more
efficient way of doing business had, uh, dividends that were non-financial.
You know, and, and if a, if a company would show, so choose, they could market
their, their products by advertising some of these efficiencies that they
gained, for example, and less using less water or, uh, producing less waste.
Almost as a, a kind of an add-on benefit, uh, to the, the kind of, the better.
Financial return on the product.
And so that was a, uh, a, a a great, uh, kind of field of, of innovation,
uh, looking at ways to, to, you know, simply make businesses more efficient.
When I, uh, saw that the United Nations, uh, was really, you know, taking a, a,
a new new stake at, uh, looking at their own operations and the efficiencies there,
I found that to be like an incredibly exciting challenge, the, the idealism
in me about, you know, maybe using this, this kind of opportunity and my skills to.
To, to, uh, better, uh, how the, the world tackles these things
was a, an appealing, uh, idea.
I spent 15 years at the UN in different capacities bringing that kind of
mindset to, the sustainability and the environmental aspects and, and making
sure that there was a grounding, uh, a bit in a business case, uh, for,
for making, taking that forward.
'cause what what we were determining at the UN at that time was, while
this is a public sector, kind of agreement and the, the, the things that.
Can, can happen, uh, with the kind of national agreements at the United Nations.
The real work happens in the private sector.
The real work happens in converting those aspirations into practicalities.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah,
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: I was very interested in how that,
you know, kind of transition from
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: I.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: aspiration to the reality works,
uh, studied carefully what, uh, which, which industries were both.
Most kind of integral to, to kind of managing these
efficiencies and the chemistry.
The business of chemistry seemed so important to every industry.
It really caught my attention and I, I dove in full force.
Uh, I did end up moving over to BASF, uh, looking at, uh, taking their.
Their programs into North America, into a market-based system.
Really exciting to, to learn the business.
Uh, and I found my way here to ACC looking at not only the deep, uh, kind of
understanding of the chemical business, but this larger picture of how do we,
how do we play our role in society?
What do we, how do we bring folks together?
do we ensure that folks understand what we do and, and the value
we bring, to this conversation?
And, you know, and the, and the efforts and the actions we're taking,
uh, to make, make positive change.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: That's great.
I love that.
In fact, a couple things that stand out for me.
Number one, you talk about efficiency and.
I often say the chemical industry is inherently sustainable because we are
always looking, not necessarily for sustainability in its truest sense, but
inherently it's been about efficiencies.
How do we take that waste stream and turn it into something better?
How do we have less emissions?
Because emissions are both, you know, bad from the environment,
but also they're costly.
So it's this whole aspect of.
Building sustainability in because it makes good business sense and
there's a good ROI, as opposed to it's just this targeted, uh, aspiration.
Right.
So it's
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: That's
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: kind of just worked work its way into, its our DNA.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: It, it is so hard to, in a market system,
it, you know, you can't push a button and, and have all the actors in your
economy, uh, act in a certain way.
We wouldn't want that.
That's, that's the, the joy of, of, of living in a, in a kind of a, an
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: uh, as we do.
Uh, however, the downside of that is you can't program in societal change
as you might through an authoritarian, uh, kind of, of centrally government.
Managed, uh, regime.
But that's okay because it does happen.
And I think that the customers in this case are making their interests known.
Uh, businesses are adapting to, appeal to these customers just as we always have.
I mean, let's, let's remember this, this industry and our organization
is, uh, is over, uh, a century old, a century and a half, and, and we've seen
a lot of, a lot of societal change.
And you know, as we know in this country, we come up with amazing
innovations to get us through challenges, because we have this open invitation,
uh, to join into the marketplace.
And so I
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Absolutely.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: really an important, uh, you know,
consideration is that it's not just deciding that this is the direction we
should go, but the incremental choices to satisfy customers along the way.
And not, you know, and to maintain a sustainable business, which is
one that can indeed offer a return and can keep itself in business,
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: for the long term.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah, I mean, I, I think
that's so, uh, important and I
think as you're, as you point out, innovation comes through
creativity as opposed to having too many boundary conditions.
I mean, you still have to have boundary conditions, but, um, we probably wouldn't
have some of the innovations we had have today had we been following a really set
path, and structure that was required.
So,
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: I
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: so,
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: something you just
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: of the industry and
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: we'll get to it again.
But, you know, we, we have, um, data, through our Recon Responsible
Care program that, that tracks the emissions of our members.
That shows the emissions intensity has decreased.
or so since, uh, 2017.
Um, we can get the, the specific number.
I, I, maybe Jenny has the, but you know, this shows that regardless of
the external forces and, you know, the societal demands, this has been
an effort to, uh, eliminate waste and, and kind of watch the bottom line.
Uh, and we've seen that intensity of waste, uh, decrease because it's
more efficient and more profitable.
To have a lower waste system.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: absolutely.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: that we, we are, I think, optimally aligned
with the society's, interests here.
Uh, because it, you know what's, uh, a safe and sustainable
facility is a profitable facility.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Absolutely.
And I think what's interesting with that data that the decline,
uh, in emissions since 2017.
We've grown as an industry.
Our output has grown, so our output has grown and our emissions have reduced,
which is a win-win, win for everybody.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: It is hard sometimes with these
big challenges that always seem intractable to, to recognize the,
the, the progress we've made.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah,
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: I think it is important because
so much work has gone into innovation and thinking of new ways
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: I, yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: uh, old problems.
It never feels like it's enough, but I think we, we, we owe it to ourselves to,
to reflect on the positives that have, that have, uh, happened over the past.
Uh, this, this, this has been an incredible, uh, period of innovation.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
Absolutely.
So Mitch, I know one of the things we're talking about today is around
the business case for sustainability.
Mm-hmm.
But what really makes a sustainable business?
Well, great, great question.
And this is probably true of anything within our industry or
without, it's basically a, you know, a sustainable business is.
A business that can operate, you know, profitably, efficiently, safely,
and, and survive for the long term.
You know?
And so I think that regardless of, you know, the new kind of externalities and
the new expectations of sustainability, I think it's important to remember
that we've always had a, an issue of is it a sustainable business?
When I was in business school, you know, you would be challenged to,
to, okay, if you're gonna design a business, how can you make sure
that it has its own internal?
Profitability mechanism to, to stay in business and doesn't
always require new capital.
And so, you know, that's where we started.
And I think that that's a sustainable business now.
It does, you know, as I said, safely and efficiently.
Well, this is where we bring in kind of society's interests in
the sustainability of a business.
But, you know, you, you do this by, you know, using your materials very
efficiently by, by, you know, scrutinizing your waste streams and, and anything that
might be producing slack in your company.
And so.
This is a, this is a perfect reminder of how important that is.
In running a business now as we add on, you know, kind of environmental
responsibility and so on, it has to be seen through that very same frame.
So you have to, you have to find a way to add those benefits on to the
core factor of having a business that.
Is able to stay in business, able to maintain the jobs, able to maintain
its, its tax, pa tax, uh, payments into the, into society and so on.
So that's the first and foremost role and responsibility of a, of a business.
Yeah.
And a sustainable business is one that can maintain itself.
Yeah, that's great.
And in fact, uh, you know, there's so many companies across the chemical industry
that have been in business for 75 years, a hundred years, a hundred plus years.
That truly is the market sustainability.
And you're doing it not just because of profitability, but it's also
being a good corporate citizen.
Right?
This whole aspect of license to Operate, which ties in with a lot of
things I know that a, c, C and its member companies work on in terms of.
Safety and sustainability and emissions and responsible care, that
it all becomes part and parcel of what becomes a sustainable business.
That's right.
You reduce waste, you pay less for disposal.
I mean, it is very clear that there's an economic return to these, to these things.
You know, if you can do your.
Resource management.
Well, you avoid legal risks and, you know, regulatory reputational risks and so on.
And so that, that's, that's allowing you to, to kind of just maintain your role as
a positive member of the, of the economy.
Let's get back to basics here, but, you know, this is a, a
big changes take a long time.
We, we wanna make sure that we have responsible.
Actors in the, in the mix.
And as you said, our members have, you know, they, they've been in business
for a long time, but I have to, I, I'll tell you, they have changed what
they've made over that time to respond to society's demands, you know, and
that's how they stay in business.
And so, so you have to be ready for that.
And, and we're seeing a, you know, kind of a, a very interesting, uh,
set of new expectations and interests.
Uh, but they only lay on top of a sustainable, uh, business model.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Absolutely.
So let's talk a little bit about sustainability priorities, um, for ACC.
How, you know, obviously you've got a lot of experience, Mitch, in
figuring this stuff out on a global stage and then here on a US stage.
But you know, when we look at it, what are the sustainability priorities for
ACC, and then how do you align them or how do they align with the industry and
with your member company priorities?
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: Sure.
Well, it's, you know, I think our, our basic priorities
are very human priorities.
It's, you know, clean, water and air, you know, high quality, looking
at, uh, circularity and reducing waste, as we've just talked about,
that, you know, no one wants to.
a big wasteful system, whether it's at their household or, or in a company.
And of course looking at things like emissions, greenhouse gas, how can we
reduce those, um, to the degree we, can Now, those priorities are not just for
our own facilities, but we feel we have, uh, kind of a role to play as we have
in society over, over time, to bring solutions to our customer industries
so that they can further innovate.
at the long stretch of history, you know, we've, we had a, a, a worry
that we wouldn't have enough food to, to, to satisfy the human population.
Well, amazing chemistry innovations came and nitrogen,
uh, fertilizers were invented.
And, and suddenly we now, can basically pull fertilizer from the air.
These amazing, they, these, uh, these chemistry solutions that have come.
And now we, we do have a.
you know, the, a plan, uh, for, for, for serving humanity, um, you know, these
medical devices, uh, dis distribution of, uh, immunizations or whatever kind
of, uh, medical equipment you need, uh, the sanitation and the sanitary state
of that can only be achieved through, uh, through careful use of chemistry.
And, you know, these, these applications are just as important
as what we do within our facilities.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah, I like that.
And in fact, sometimes I think emit, you and I both know, you know, when you.
Get outside the industry and you're talking to people that aren't actively
engaged, that will sometimes, you know, throw down these statements of, oh,
plastics are bad, or chemicals are bad.
It's like, well, do you like washing your clothes?
Do you like having clean clothes?
Do you like having appropriate sanitization of medical equipment?
How about that fine little phone that you've got?
That's.
Made up of electrical components, but a whole lot of chemical
components or chemically influenced components in manufacturing.
And um, I think it's just a good reminder.
I think you guys use the statistic, something like, what is it,
98% of everything is touched by the business of chemistry.
Is that right?
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: Yes, uh, it is and, and I, and I think it's, it's
an important thing to recognize that, you know, we are an, an industry that, that.
certain raw materials into useful other materials and, you know, that, that,
that is the, uh, a critical point.
And that's, you know, when I, when I reflected on my, my career choice
of moving into this industry, it was just that, just that thing.
'cause we were seeing amazing progress on how people would, compensate for their
kind of the, the energy they were using.
They were getting, uh, you know, credits for, for using, uh, certain types
of energy sources over, over others.
But there was no discussion like that on materials.
Like how do you, how do you get credits and benefits for.
For, for using a, a, a material that has a lower, uh, lower
waste footprint or something.
And so that's where we are now.
And we we're trying to find ways to, to securitize that and to show people
that, hey, you can buy a product that has these ingredients in it , and it's up to
you, the consumer to make that choice.
There's no, no government telling you what to buy.
But, you know, we're seeing a a, a diversity of, of interests out in
the marketplace as we always have.
And, and chemistry is able to satisfy all of them.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah, absolutely.
So I mean that, that ties into this.
You know, I think about sustainability as a, as sustainability with a big
S as I frame it, which seemed to really kind of reach peak hype, if
you will, 20 20, 20 21, during the pandemic, I mean, where everybody's.
Seemed to be focused on sustainability, greenhouse gas emissions.
It became an everyday word.
A lot of companies set aspirational goals.
Of course, consumers say that they want sustainable products.
They may not want to pay for sustainable products, which is its own dilemma.
And yet today we're kind of in a different economic environment, a different set of,
uh, governments across the world in place.
Um, and some of that hype seems to have faded.
Yet, it's still really important.
So from your perspective, what is that shift?
How do you see this evolution of sustainability from where we were,
let's say 2020 to where we are today?
2025, heading into 2026.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: That's a great question.
I, I think about it a lot.
I, you know, you look at history, you think of the, the, the Al Gore days.
There seemed to be, you know, this, it almost a big movement
that was about to start.
And it, floundered because of, uh, economic and, and, uh,
geopolitical con conditions as well.
Uh, so this is not a new conversation, but I think what
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: you know, and I reflect on my time at the, at
the UN around this time, you know, we had the Pope in 2015 and, and Mark Zuckerberg,
you know, everybody descending.
It seemed like all of society was, was asking, uh, leaders to,
to pay attention to these things.
And, we'd kind of come through a lot of, uh, you know, the.
The Cold War and the dividends and so on.
Uh, you know, what do we do now that we've got this, you, this future together?
And, um, looking at every country as, as having some work to do on,
improving the lives of their citizens.
And so there's a lot of, unstructured ambition out there.
Uh, and it seemed to coalesce into this program of, you know, especially around
the, the climate and these things that are everybody's job, but nobody's job.
You know, everybody, everybody has a, a stake in it, but there's, there's never
been kind of an agreement on how to.
Manage these externalities.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Right.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: so I think there was, a very interesting
conversation that, that occurred.
And I think that the, you know, the costs to society and things
became, you know, very important that we talk about the business case.
You can't just suddenly flip a switch and, and, uh, convert all of the
industry to a, to a new fuel source or a new, uh, you know, feedstock mix.
Uh, you know, our, our members, when they invest in a big facility, they
wanna see it work for 40, 50 years.
And you know, they, they're, um, they make an investment upfront as, uh,
in, in doing so every time they, they make one, they, they take advantage of
the biggest new, uh, sustainability, uh, features and the if efficient
heating and cooling and so on.
So they always become more efficient.
But I think that that's the, you know, kind of the, the, the progression.
I don't know, did I, did I answer your
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: Mm-hmm.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: No, that's good.
So, you know, I think, I guess maybe the, the question then is.
What's our current focus?
When you, you know, as you interact with your, member companies, as you
interact with, government agencies, et cetera, what's the current focus and
conversation around sustainability?
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: Well, I, I think it's the
business case, uh, conversation.
It's like the, you know, an efficient company, uh, a safe facility, uh,
is more profitable and, and it's, you know, the primary driver of
a, of a kind of a, a firm is to.
its customers and deliver economic value.
Obviously the, you know, we as a market driven society have have looked to
companies to do more than that, and, and everybody takes a role in, in pushing
forward, societal changes in a, in a, in an open market system like this.
Nobody, as I said, nobody has one command and control over that.
What's happening now is, is folks are looking at.
affordability, you know, uh, looking at how can they make the most of
their asset base, how can they squeeze the most profitability out of it?
And it turns out that many of them are saying, wow, if I make this system just
a little bit more efficient, then it'll
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: you know, pennies on the ton
and that grow, you know, and that really makes a difference.
So, you know, ironically, we're back to.
The basics we're back to basics of, you know, what does it mean
to be a sustainable business?
You can stay in business.
And, and I think the, you know, not to oversimplify it, and I understand
that some of the societal expectations of change might be more aggressive and
and dramatic than the business cycle, normal business cycle would allow, but
I think we have to understand that we.
We've built the, you know, this, the system, to allow us to have
these freedoms and, and the flexibility in the marketplace.
But we have to take that as, as an understanding of what
the design constraints are.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: the decision, as the conversation,
you know, the high level conversation moves, moves on, the actions on
the ground are still happening.
I mean, we
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: who are, , there's a, a
technology called carbon capture.
You may have heard where you, you kind of.
Plug up the smoke stack, if I can use a, a simple way of talking about it.
And then you, you, you put that exhaust into a, into a container or you actually
convert it into useful, uh, material.
It's after all it is chemistry.
And you know, we specialize in converting unusable chemistry into usable chemistry.
And so we've had members take their exhaust and turn it into products.
And so this is actually now happening and these are things that
companies are doing not because.
Some NGOs telling them that it's a good thing to do, but because
they're building a new, uh, frame of their business through that,
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: also have many members who happen to
have very efficient processes already.
Instead of changing their processes, they're just talking about it more,
you know, and so that they can talk about their efficiencies and
their lower, footprints and so on.
Uh, but simply because they've always done a good job of being an efficient company.
So, you know, the, the conversation is different.
Uh, there's a concept called the hype cycle, I don't know.
And on technologies, usually they talk about, oh, a new ai, it's a,
it's gonna gonna change everything.
And there's a huge bubble of hype.
Inevitably there's a crash.
'cause it doesn't solve all those problems.
But what you see on, if you look at hi historical, trends is that it does come
back to about a half what they call a plateau of productivity, which is
maybe not as high as the hype, but it's much higher than the starting point.
And so I think what we've seen with sustainability is we've traveled
through this exuberant, you know, kind of ambitious phase where everyone
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: looking to see how we could
push it as far as we can.
And now it's hitting a little bit of the reality check.
Uh, but I think that the, you know, it's not that the program has failed, it's
just that the ambition was a little bit too, uh, rapid, for the realities of,
of how it meet needs to be implemented.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah, I think that's right.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: the implementation is not always
as breathtaking in its advances.
Because it is a grind everyday decisions by people all over this
country in our facilities, making small tweaks to the controls and,
and, uh, changes to how they.
Formulate, uh, all adding up, to a new, a new type of, of chemistry.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah, I like that.
And in fact, uh, your, your colleague, uh, Karen Knick.
Hosted a panel at the Chemical Summit recently and about the
business case of sustainability.
And that was part of that conversation with, member companies
around maybe moving past the hype.
Um, and we've certainly seen recently several m.
Big projects get delayed.
Um, big project announcements that were considered green or, carbon
neutral carbon reduction projects.
And yet, what we're seeing is a lot more strategic discipline, right?
So continuous improvement where there's a real business case and
where action is really achievable.
Right.
So I think it's this, step by step improvements as opposed to,
uh, you know, I love that phrase of the hype cycle that you talked
about, because that, you're right.
It, it exists everywhere.
It's like, woo, we're gonna go change the world.
Well, we are gonna change the world, but it's not gonna be a big bang.
It's gonna be step by step in a pragmatic way.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: That's right.
And I think, you know, it, it, we, we all, uh, see the data, we see the numbers,
uh, the international organizations talk about which sectors are emitting, how
much you know, of a percentage of the, you know, and our, our, our industry.
You know, has a, a, a, a piece of that.
I think it's something like 15% of the emissions, uh, is, is, but
what I always focus on is that 85% that we sell into, you know, like
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: course we are, we're doing everything.
We, we're reducing our emissions.
We're, we're taking care of our 15%.
We're doing what we, what we need to do there, as we can,
as we grow more efficient.
But I, I compel folks to, to consider, the huge upside in using these advances.
To, you know, kind of reduce the emissions and, and make our, customers
products more efficient as well by incorporating these efficient
ingredients that we're producing.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Absolutely.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: that it's not just about us, you know,
taking care of our own, which we do, and our responsible care data has shown.
Transparently what we, our members have been able to do over the past decades.
but it's also this, this impact, you know, invite us in, invite chemistry into your
innovation and your product development.
And we're seeing the, these new conversations between, customers and,
and consumer goods and, packaged goods.
Other things coming to the chemistry, uh, vendors thing.
How can we do this in a different way?
How can we change the this to to, to meet our, our new customer demands
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: by one, product by product, customer by
customer, conversation, by conversation.
The reality is changing.
You know, there are new options, there are new, uh, abilities and, and the
industries that support us, the power, uh, energy industry, others, they're,
they're thinking in new ways as well.
So we can do a lot ourselves, but we are rely on our suppliers, and our
customers to, to kind of bring us along and, and we bring them along with us.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah, absolutely.
I think it's definitely a value chain, right?
It's a value chain, uh, not just the chemical companies, but as you say,
suppliers, customers, and then down to the consumers as well, right?
I think, uh, even just my own consumer experience as a consumer, um, and
having a household full of consumers, but, you know, every time I go to a
industry conference and I learn something new about the way products are used,
and how improvements are made.
And it's like, oh, well that makes sense.
Right?
I mean, I, I joked earlier about like our phones, our iPhones, our
androids, whatever people have.
If you think about just how much technology is harnessed in those
phones, and how the chemical industry and other industries have evolved and
innovated to make these things work.
Um.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: Yeah.
And it's
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: EVs electric vehicles like require a whole new set
of paints and coatings and wire coatings and things that you wouldn't think about.
You're like, oh, we're just putting the parts together.
No, you're putting the parts together to work in a better and different way.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: That's right.
That's
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: I, yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: know, it is, a, it's a time of, uh, of.
Dramatic change all
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: you know, and I think that, you know, we,
we went there, there had been, you know, these, these economic concerns.
Well, who's gonna pay for the climate change?
How these products, I think pricing, has become such a, a dynamic concern.
Uh, you know, in, even for class, if it's a classic or, or a legacy
products and things, nobody really is.
Certain where pricing is going on, anything.
So it's a, it's not as easy as it was to kind of make the case
for, for these new formulations.
But at the same time, because everything is in flux, if you can show that,
hey, you know, we're gonna do this new initiative, uh, it'll end up, you know,
satisfying some of our customers who want sustainability, but we're actually gonna
save a lot of money if we do it this way
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah, absolutely.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: know, and, and our, you know, when we
talk to customers and do surveys and things, people believe us more when
we say, Hey, this is, you know, we're not doing this just 'cause it's good.
Right thing to do.
It's actually good for our business, you know, so
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Right.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: you know, we can, we can make a case.
So we talk to our investors and other things about this and that
the, the member companies do.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: you know, and it, it's, we, you
have to find those opportunities.
You
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: I.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: navigate carefully through this complex environment
and find those successes, uh, where, where the customers, uh, need the most.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Absolutely.
It's all about product market fit, as they say.
Yeah.
So, clearly, uh, Mitch, one of the things that you've done throughout
your career is really working with a wide variety of constituents,
government, non-governmental.
Um, I know that in the work that you do today, um, with ACC, this whole.
Area of alignment of interests, across member companies, across
your, you know, the public sector.
What have you found to be really critical in making that happen?
Because I recognize, certainly for ACC, there's some of the biggest
companies, fortune 50 companies, top biggest companies in the, in the world
are part of the chemical industry.
There's also a lot of small companies, mid-size, small companies So we've
got, you know, we've got companies that have a variety of interests.
How do you align those interests to get to a common platform standard and approach?
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: our job is not to force alignment on our members.
We, we have a, a very diverse, uh, industry.
Uh,
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: we do, frankly, the, one of the
biggest customer segments of our industry is our own industry.
And so even those members that are small are, are interacting with our larger
members and they all, you know, want to, you know, have the tide lift all boats,
so that we can, um, you know, kind of.
See progress, whether it's small or large, but again, it comes down to the customer.
You know, every, business, large or small, their whole job is to create
a customer and to satisfy a customer.
And so they, they need to find what it will take to, to,
uh, to satisfy the customer.
Now, as I said, we, we've got some small companies that that just happened to.
chemistry in a certain way that, uh, everyone wants to do because
it's very efficient and they happen to have this, they didn't even know
they had sustainability benefits to sell, and they get to decide whether
they wanna market those or not.
You know, using wood product, you know, all kinds of things that people,
uh, talk about now and as wanting in their, in their chemistries and their
products and, Hey, we already do that.
Let's talk about it.
The larger companies have, a lot at stake.
They're, they're huge in operations, big crackers, big investments.
Um, some of the other companies are, less of an asset base, but they are
again, subject to the kind of the demands of those larger companies.
So it's.
E every company has its own, stakeholders, its own fiduciary responsibility to, its,
its stakeholders and its shareholders to, to deliver on its own, uh, outcomes.
Uh, but what we attempt to do at ACC to help all the members see the general
directionality of where things are going.
Um, and, you know, try to advocate for the interest as broadly as we
can, uh, in, for example, third party.
Standards development.
You know, we're seeing things called the SBTI, Science-Based Targets
Initiative and, and other things they're, they're attempting as, as well as they
can to, to provide frameworks for.
Uh, industries to report their emissions and so on.
And, you know, it's our job to make sure that they're not making steps
that would make it impossible for our, our smaller members to, to comply.
But also that there isn't something that's just so unwieldy that rather large or
smaller members wouldn't be satisfied.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: again, I think what we, when we talk about going
back to basics, looking at the long game.
The business case for sustainability.
We're not talking about taking, a totally different direction
on what a company does.
We're talking about using the core delivery of a, of a company, which
is its products and its satisfied customers to add on, if possible,
additional benefits to society simply by reducing the waste, of that process.
And so I think that's a pretty straightforward way for us.
Larger small companies to, to align to that.
Uh, you know, there are that some are being asked to, to make, and, and that's
at a company level if they wish to enter into those types of commitments.
You know, that's a business strategy.
We don't make that case for our members as ACC, that is
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: to commit our members to
a specific path forward.
We help them eliminate bottlenecks, find ways to make things more efficient.
Uh, just as we suggest they, they are doing in their, in their own operations.
We are helping to do in the public sector dialogue.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
Love that.
So I'm, I'm gonna ask this question and we can choose to keep it or not.
So currently as we record this, we're, um, in a government
shutdown, federal shutdown.
How is that affecting the work that you are doing?
With the government elsewhere, like it's for, for those of, how about this For
me, I, I get my news from the Wall Street Journal and, and Chatter, so, uh, it's
hard to see what's really happening.
How does it affect an, an organization like a c, C and its members?
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: Well, we, you know, we'd like to see,
the government operating well and our, you know, our members are waiting for
permits, uh, you know, to, to build the next, locations for America's workforce.
And, and those are in some cases stymied and, you know, so we, we hate to see that.
And, we're hopeful that they can resolve these differences.
I think that the bigger.
Picture I'd like to leave though is this long, long-term thinking.
We have a lot, uh, you know, the, from a multi-stakeholder approach,
of course, the federal public sector is incredibly important.
There's a, an enormous amount of value that comes from having a, a highly
functioning system there for in innovation new chemistries, you know, allowing
for permitting, you know, the things.
That can only be done at the highest levels and, will unlock the, you know, the
kind of economic potential of the country.
So we need to, you know, get back to that and, and accelerate
that and do anything we can.
But you mentioned the multi-stakeholder approach.
We've, we've got, you know, state, state officials, uh, municipal officials.
Uh, non-governmental organizations, charities, religious groups, others, you
know, the whole of society has an opinion on, on where these things should go.
And government shutdowns don't, don't shut down those aspects of society.
And so we owe it to our members, whether we're helping them advocate
for their needs with the, with the federal government, or with any other.
Uh, jurisdiction or kind of a group, that work continues.
Um, so I, I think that's, that's really the answer.
You know, we're, we're in a, we, we we're 150 year old, 160 year old organization.
We are on a long trajectory to serve the long-term needs of this country.
Uh, we, we see the, the, the value in a, in a highly
functioning federal government.
And, and we wish to, improve the efficiency in any way we can propose.
But of course, that's the business of the American people.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah, and I guess we're, we'll wait and see.
Hopefully when this is published, things will be back to normal.
Um, that's, I think everyone's wish.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: see if this, this question
even adds to this, you know,
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Exactly.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: I think we're, we don't have
much, much to say about it and, and, uh, I would rather focus
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: the things we can, can have an impact on.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Fair enough.
Fair enough, fair enough.
Okay, so I've got two final questions for you.
One I think we maybe have already addressed, but we'll, we'll ask it
again, which is, you know, what's the biggest misperception that the
public or regulators have about the chemical industry and how
would you like to correct that?
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: there are a lot of, oversimplifications,
you know, about how things work in the world and, and you know, things.
Fall into good and bad buckets, and we make, you know, we make these decisions.
But I, I think it's important that,- that folks understand and reflect on,
on, you know, how much of a different approach our industry is, is taken over
the decades, you know, and, a kind, a real inward focus on, you know, what can we do
to make sure that we're doing the right thing as an industry and sharing that.
And that's our responsible care program.
I think over the past decades, uh, really since the, you know, to turn to the.
The century.
We've been looking at, being transparent, you know, showing, you know, what we're,
what we're up to, and, and you know, the kind of the, how we operate, how
we improve year over year in the, in the things that, uh, folks are worried
about and, uh, the emissions and so on.
It's been instructive to, to, to show folks that, but there's
always a, a, a challenge in, in.
In talking to folks about things that they can't touch and feel and,
and, and understand, uh, you know, the, the abstractions that we need.
uh, the scientists of, of this country that this industry have done miracles in.
Providing a, a gateway for, for the, the, kind of raw materials that this, this,
this earth has provided us into these highly refined solutions for health and,
and communications and, uh, wellbeing.
In that process, we sometimes forget, how important the, the chemistry
process is to, to, to having all those things as, as you mentioned.
So I think it's, it's not a misconception as to that there's,
there's some specific fact that there, that folks are, are getting wrong.
It's just that how, how much progress we've made, how clean.
Safe, you know, uh, these, these industries are the facilities.
I think if you were to take folks through a chemical facility, they
would be surprised to see the kind of the laboratory conditions and the,
and the hygiene and the cleanliness.
'cause they're maybe a con conception of some, something from the 1970s that they,
they learned about in a, in a textbook.
So, you know, we've come, we've come so far.
As a, as a country, I look at every industry, how, how far we've progressed on
safety and automobiles and, and elsewhere.
This the very same progression, if not more so because we, we know how important
it's in our industry has happened.
And folks would be delighted to, to see, that they can be proud of their
American chemical, uh, industry, uh, even
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: other countries.
'cause we take, our role so seriously, we, we audit the, the
data coming out of our members.
We really wanna make sure that we're making that case very clearly.
This country's a fantastic place to, do industry, to build and, make stuff.
You know, the, the, the, our, our, we have great natural resources.
The, the emissions just by building here are lower because of our,
uh, our ability to, to use the, the natural gas and, and so on.
So, you know, we're, we're bullish on it.
I think that, you know, I, we, we, we need people to understand that.
The, for the Great American Comeback.
As, as, uh, Lee Zelin, uh, the administrator of the EPA says, we
need to power that, by going through and, and actually building new things
and, and building, uh, facilities and, and getting back into, uh, a spirit
of being makers in this country.
And we we're, we're fully supportive of that.
And I hope that, uh, American citizens and and consumers understand how
important that is to our, our national strength, and making sure that we can,
we can deliver the solutions we need, to Americans at an affordable price.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
Love that.
I think, I think it's so true, and I think, this aspect of just how clean and
safe and well run chemical facilities are.
It, it's impressive, right?
I mean,
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: We're, we're very
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: truly impressive.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: proud of the, the members' progress in these areas.
Yeah.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah, absolutely.
So, Mitch, final question for you.
I always, I like to close with a leadership question.
So, you've obviously had the chance to work with great leaders.
You yourself are a great leader.
If you were to give advice to somebody.
Newly entering the industry, whether being entering the chemical industry or
following a path like you've followed, perhaps working in, UN or the ACC or an
agency that really has the opportunity to affect policies and practices more
broadly, what advice would you give, what's critical to success in this space?
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: Well, I, you know, good question.
Uh, I'd reflect on it a little bit, but I think the, you know, understanding the
problem, you know, understanding what problem you, you see as most important.
And, and seeing a route for yourself to help solve it, you know, and, and
really being clear about what the problem is, you know, and I think
that this is, but you know, it ties back to what it's sustainability, this
confusing language and people, you know, being able to debate it endlessly.
not, you don't, you can't take action on that.
You know, like I what we, when we speak to people coming into the
workforce, they're like, I want to.
Change the filtering of our air filtration.
'cause we know we can eliminate this thing if we do it just right.
And they don't talk about, I wanna do sustainability.
They talk about, you know, filtration that they learned about in their
master's program and that they, if they did it, they could change the game.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: we're looking at very detailed kind
of things and not this kind of larger.
Debate.
And so I would say don't be, don't be scared by the, the
debate about the language.
There's anytime society changes and new factors become important
and new performance criteria become, uh, part of the mix.
There's a, as a uncertainty about how to approach that.
Uh, but I, I would say, you know, focus on something that you really feel.
Passionate about that, you know, what the problem is and you know how and where to
solve it or where, where to contribute, you know, 'cause, and, and that's,
as I was attracted to this industry, it was only because I, every time I
looked at what could an industry do to decarbonize, whether it's automobiles
or, or consumer goods or, or it always came back to, well, if the, if the
chemistry was, you know, set up, that's a, such a huge part of the footprint.
And so it, it was very clear that if I wanted to have, uh, an impact.
You know, and, and use this, this kind of unique multi-stakeholder ability to
bring, bring together, uh, the solutions.
The, the best place to do that would be in the chemistry industry because
it, it is, you know, it's full of incredibly smart people solving the
biggest problems of our society.
Kind of without any, any, uh, fanfare or, uh, in some cases they have to
explain away why they're, why they're solving society's problems because
folks are, are sometimes unclear as to why we need these, these chemicals,
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Yeah.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: it, it is, uh, it's a job of, of, you know,
making sure that you as an individual understand what you're trying to solve.
If you can show progress against a problem, um, nobody can challenge
you as to what language you're using.
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Love it.
Great.
Well, this has been a great conversation, Mitch.
Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me today.
mitch-toomey_1_10-08-2025_110825: Yeah, it's been great.
I really appreciate it.
Good
victoria_1_10-08-2025_100825: Absolutely.
And thank you everyone for listening today.
Keep listening, keep following, keep sharing, and we will
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