by Brianna Crandall — May 9, 2011—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership now has 7,000 partner stores located in all 50 states. From regional grocers like Stater Bros. in southern California, and small health food stores like Down-to-Earth, to nationally recognized names like Whole Foods and the newest partner Target Corporation, the partnership now represents 20 percent of the supermarket industry.
GreenChill’s food retailers are reducing pollution from commercial refrigeration, decreasing their impact on the ozone layer, and protecting people’s health, says EPA. EPA estimates that GreenChill partners’ refrigerant emissions are 50 percent lower than the industry average.
EPA notes that if every supermarket in the nation reduced its emissions to the average GreenChill store rate of 12 percent, the industry would save more than $100 million in refrigerant costs alone annually, while saving the equivalent of 22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and 240 tons of ozone-depleting substances every year, says EPA. The greenhouse gas pollution from an average store’s refrigerant leaks is reportedly often higher than the GHG pollution from its annual total electricity consumption.
EPA launched the GreenChill program in 2007 as a way to partner with food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions, greenhouse gas pollution and decrease their overall impact on the ozone layer. The partnership works with food retailers to transition to more environmentally friendly refrigerants, reduce the amount of refrigerant used in stores, and eliminate harmful refrigerant leaks.
