Grocery stores lead the way in ozone layer protection

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) named Giant Eagle Inc. and Harris Teeter Inc. as the first winners of its GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership Environmental Achievement Award. The award recognizes the two food retailers for emitting the lowest rates of ozone-depleting refrigerant in GreenChill's first year.

"EPA congratulates Giant Eagle and Harris Teeter for leading the field with exemplary emissions prevention and maintenance systems," said Robert J. Meyers, EPA's principal deputy assistant administrator for Air and Radiation. "GreenChill has grown from 10 to 30 partners in less than a year, showing that what's good for the environment is good for business."

GreenChill partners in the food retail business have refrigerant emissions rates nearly 50 percent lower than the EPA-estimated industry average. These partners are responsible for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from refrigerants totaling 2.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide—equivalent to the annual emissions of 500,000 cars. They also saved money to the tune of nearly US$13 million in 2007.

If supermarkets nationwide reduced emissions to the current GreenChill average, they could generate an additional cost savings of US$67 million while preventing the annual emission of 13 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and 157 ozone depleting potential (ODP) tons. ODP tons are a measure of the potency of ozone-depleting substances.