The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has quadrupled the number of participants in its voluntary program designed to reduce the use of ozone-depleting refrigerants in the nation’s grocery stores. Launched in November 2007, the GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership has shown how EPA works with supermarkets to achieve environmental goals. The program now includes more than 6,500 stores in 47 states and in 2008, partners 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."

To highlight the program’s top-performing participants, GreenChill recently implemented a Store Certification Awards Program, which 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. EPA will recognize top performers during the Food Marketing Institute’s 2009 Sustainability Summit in San Francisco on Aug.17-19.

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