The UK food retailer that has pledged to introduce new propane based refrigeration technology in every new and major refitted store, has hit the top at a new ranking by the Environmental Investigation Agency assessing retailers’ efforts to eliminate HFCs from their fridges. Major UK media such as The Guardian and Sky News covered the issue.

Seeking to raise awareness with regards to the fact that one third of the carbon footprint of supermarkets comes from the use of HFC refrigeration gases, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has set up the Chilling Facts Campaign. Following up on last year’s report on the use of HFC gases for refrigeration by food retailers, “Chilling Facts 2” has now been published. The report assesses which of the leading supermarket retailers in the UK have made improvements and which are guilty of not taking action.

Under the slogan "The Supermarket Refrigeration Scandal Continues", Chilling Facts 2010 reveals that only 2% of stores belonging to major supermarket retailers, are running on HFC-free refrigeration systems. This means that there are currently 46 supermarket stores running on climate-friendly refrigeration, up from just 14 stores in 2009. The report also provides a call for the UK government and supermarkets to take action and phase-out HFCs, as well as a ranking of supermarkets with regards to their efforts and provides an assessment of efforts that fall under the three main categories of “the good”, “the bad” and “the ugly”.

THE GOOD [PROGRESS SO FAR]

• Waitrose has come top of the supermarket league in the 2010 survey. Waitrose has jumped from one of the worst offenders in 2009 to all-round winner in 2010 - thanks to impressive efforts to reduce emissions and ambitious commitments for future cuts. Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer have shown real commitment to reducing HFC emissions by commiting to an HFC phase-out date of 2030.

• Sainsbury’s have also committed to leapfrogging HFCs in 135 of their large stores by moving from HCFCs straight to HFC-free systems by 2014. Tesco has set an example by giving short-term leakage reduction targets combined with plans to roll out HFC-free systems (but fail to give an HFC phase-out date).

• Waitrose and Asda are currently trialling promising HFC-free alternatives for transport refrigeration and Lidl has developed an innovative approach using cooling systems in distribution centres for transport refrigeration.

THE BAD [NOT GOOD ENOUGH]

• The Co-operative Group is the only retailer to score less this year than in 2009. Co-Op’s performance on HFCs has been disappointing – their use of ozone-destroying HCFCs in distribution centres is particularly negative.

• Ammonia is currently the most energy and cost-efficient refrigerant for warehouses and distribution centres, where it is commonly used. But some supermarkets, most notably Co- operative Group, Morrisons, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Iceland and Midlands Co-operative are still using either HFC or HCFC systems in some locations.

• Morrisons appear to have settled for a half way house solution of reduced HFCs rather than going the whole way.

THE UGLY [NEED TO RE-ASSESS]

• Asda, the UK’s second largest retailer, has been trialling HFC-free refrigeration for several years but has reneged on its 2007 commitment to make a switch in all stores.

• Aldi, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s refused to share their data on leakages rates and emissions of HFCs.

• The lowest reported leakage rate, from supermarkets using centralised systems, for HFCs was about 14% - the highest was 17%.

• Supermarkets have not introduced doors on chiller cabinets because they are more concerned about reducing sales than wasting energy and emitting potent greenhouse gases in the process.

• Iceland has not only gone back on a 1999 commitment to go HFC-free but is still using HCFC based freezers which either have been or are being phased-out by the other retailers.