Hy-Vee, Inc., has earned GreenChill recognition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its work to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease its environmental impact, according to a news release.
Hy-Vee was honored with the GreenChill recognition for Superior Goal Achievement, awarded to GreenChill partners that achieve their annual GreenChill refrigerant emissions reduction goal, according to the release.
"The EPA’s GreenChill Program is a voluntary partnership with food retailers, system manufacturers, and chemical producers to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change," according to the release.
According to the EPA, GreenChill partner stores have much lower leak rates than average stores in the U.S. If every supermarket reduced its leak levels to the GreenChill average, the supermarket industry could annually save more than $251 million in refrigerant replacement costs and reduce emissions by about 31 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent and 84 ozone depletion potential metric tons, the EPA says.
“The GreenChill program has been an extremely valuable public/private partnership for Hy-Vee, and the entire grocery industry,” said Hy-Vee chairman and CEO Randy Edeker in the release. “This program has been instrumental in helping retailers like Hy-Vee benchmark their progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving our sustainability goals.”