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Sweetbay Supermarket Helps Keep Ice Cream, Planet Cool with GreenChill Partnership

Release Date: 08/07/2009
Contact Information: Laura Niles, (404) 562-8353, niles.laura@epa.gov

(Atlanta, Ga. – August 7, 2009) Sweetbay Supermarket of Tampa, Fla. has joined EPA’s GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership, a voluntary program engaging grocery stores in the nation to help positively impact climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ozone-depleting gas releases typically associated with the large-scale refrigerators used to keep food chilled before purchase. Since the program’s inception in 2007, the GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership has grown to more than 6,500 stores in 47 states. In 2008, participating grocery stores reduced their aggregate total emissions by 8.5 percent.

“This is the beginning of a partnership that is going to help us reduce significant amounts of ozone depleting refrigerant and other emissions, cut costs for supermarkets and consumers, and protect our health and the environment, “ said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “EPA will continue working to find a path forward that rewards the mutual interests of our supermarkets and the environmental health of the communities they serve."

Compared to the supermarket industry as a whole, GreenChill partners emit significantly fewer ozone-depleting refrigerant emissions and greenhouse gases, and save money at the same time. EPA officials estimate that if all U.S. supermarkets reduced emissions to the current GreenChill average, the nation could save the equivalent of 22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and 240 ozone-depleting potential tons each year -- equal to the annual emissions from more than four million cars. This carries a cost savings of $108 million in refrigerant expenses annually.

To highlight the program’s top-performing participants, GreenChill recently implemented a Store Certification Awards Program. This component recognizes retail stores that achieve at least a 50 percent reduction in refrigerant charge and a 75 percent reduction in refrigerant emissions, resulting in either gold- or silver-level certification. To date, seven stores have been awarded GreenChill gold, and three stores have been awarded the silver. EPA will recognize top performers during the Food Marketing Institute’s 2009 Sustainability Summit in San Francisco on Aug.17-19.

More information on EPA’s GreenChill Partnership: https://www.epa.gov/greenchill