Actions

Policy and Commitments

Retailers can also take action by sharing public commitments or goals to reduce HFCs and proactively engaging with stakeholders in industry and policy settings. This includes both commitments and disclosure, as well as membership and participation in various forums and organizations on key topics including standards and codes, supply chain availability of low-GWP refrigerants, technician training and certification, and costs and performance of technologies. Transparency is an important aspect, whereby publicly sharing information on company policies and targets to reduce HFCs can encourage similar actions by other companies and help advance industry and policy discussions. Therefore, public commitments should be regularly disclosed in a company’s public sustainability reports.

Examples of actions in this area include:

• Make measurable and time-bound public commitments to reducing HFC use and/or emissions and regularly publishing updates on progress, such as:

  • Transition out of HFCs in all facilities by 2035, with an interim target to reduce HFC emissions by 50% by 2030

  • Adopt HFC-free refrigeration in all new standalone equipment, new store builds, and major remodels

  • Reduce corporate average refrigerant leak rate to EPA GreenChill's best in class rate of <5%.

  • Use only reused or reclaimed refrigerant to service existing high-GWP refrigeration systems

• Membership and active participation in organizations seeking to advance HFC-free refrigeration such as the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC), national standards and codes bodies including Underwriters Laboratories, and ASHRAE

• Proactive engagement with policymakers such as through the EPA GreenChill Partnership, regulatory workshops, or indirectly through other non-governmental organizations or industry associations