Following up on last year’s report on the use of HFC gases for refrigeration by food retailers in the UK, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has launched “Chilling Facts 2”. The 2010 report assesses which of the leading supermarket retailers in the UK have made improvements and which are guilty of not taking action with regards to eliminating high-GWP HFCs from their fridges.
With nearly one third of the carbon footprint of supermarkets coming from the use of HFC refrigerants, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) set out for a second year to look into what the leading supermarket retailers are doing about the issue in the UK.
2% of UK stores use HFC-free refrigeration
To its dismay, it found poor progress compared to last year with only 2% out of all the supermarket stores across the UK having been converted to HFC-free refrigeration systems. In terms of absolute numbers, Chilling Facts 2010 reveals that there are currently 46 supermarket stores running on climate-friendly refrigeration, up from 14 stores in 2009.
High leakage rates is a fact
According to Chilling Facts 2010, reported leakage (just leakage) of HFCs from UK supermarkets is equivalent to 1.13 million tonnes of CO
2 per annum currently. This is like taking over one billion car journeys to your local supermarket or taking a return flight to Australia 300,000 times. The lowest reported leakage rate from supermarkets using HFC centralised systems was about 14% - the highest was 17%.
Results and changes from 2009
Chilling Facts 2010 includes a `Supermarket League Table’ ranking food retailers. Waitrose, Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s are at the top of the ranking, while Aldi, despite its active stance in committing to HFC-free refrigeration in Germany, holds the last place in the EIA ranking, which considers its efforts in the UK context.
The report notes the following changes from 2009:
- Waitrose has moved from close to bottom of the rankings, to leader of the league table, with an innovative approach to identifying HFC leakage, training and support for the refrigeration industry, and a firmer commitment to reduce use of HFCs in the longer term.
- The Co-operative Group has moved down the table to no.9 as it continues to use HCFCs in its distributions systems. HCFC gas is now banned by EU legislation and is considered more harmful than HFCs due to their impact on the ozone layer.
- The 2010 survey reveals that six (Waitrose, M&S, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Midlands Co- operative) of the 11 supermarket retailers surveyed, have announced measures to reduce their use of HFCs.
- Three more supermarkets have adopted climate-friendly freezer technology (Lidl, Co-operative Group and Aldi).
- The growing adoption of HFC-free refrigeration systems has at least shown that these new systems are both technically and commercially viable.
- Asda, despite suggesting they would convert to HFC-free refrigeration, has reneged on its commitment to make a switch in all stores.
EIA calls for government action and funding for training
The EIA is calling for the following action to be taken:
- HFC phase-out throughout the chain: All supermarket retailers to phase out the use of HFCs in stores, distribution centres and transport by a deadline of 2015. EIA is further calling for the use of HFC-free refrigeration systems in all new supermarket buildings and retrofits from January 1, 2010.
- Introduction of legislation regarding the use of HFCs in UK supermarkets: Government action on introducing legislation to reinforce the deadline for the removal of HFCs from refrigeration among major retailers.
- Funding for training the refrigeration industry: Government and industry funding for training the refrigeration industry in installation and maintenance of climate friendly alternatives so that HFC options are even more accessible to supermarket retailers.
