Giant Company recognized for reducing store refrigerant emission

Grocery chain is part of EPA’s GreenChill program

CARLISLE >> The Giant Company has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s GreenChill Program for reaching its annual refrigerant emissions reduction goal in 2021.

The grocery chain, which joined the GreenChill program in 2020, received a Superior Goal Achievement honor during the recent FMI Energy & Store Development conference.

For the past several years, Giant has been performing refrigerant conversions, installing leak detectors, and replacing older refrigeration units, when possible, within its more than 190 stores, according to a press release.

The company also communicates with its vendors to get refrigerant leaks repaired as quickly as possible. The initiative is part The Giant Company’s healing the planet commitment.

“We know every effort counts when it comes to healing our planet, which is why we take actions every day throughout our stores to do our part as a responsible retailer and green innovator,” Joe LaCagnina, director of store format, The

Giant Company, said in a statement. He added that since joining the GreenChill Program, the company has implemented “best practices” from across the industry, including preventative maintenance programs, leak detection equipment and quick repairs, “to further reduce our refrigerant emissions, which impact the ozone layer and climate change.”

Kersey Manliclic, GreenChill program manager for the EPA said the company has “already proved to be an example for other supermarket industry stakeholders.”

The EPA’s GreenChill 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 information on the EPA’s GreenChill website. GreenChill provides food retailers and other industry stakeholders with information and assistance to: transition to environmentally friendlier refrigerants, reduce the amount of refrigerant they use, eliminate refrigerant leaks, implement environmental best practices, and adopt green refrigeration technologies.

For more information on EPA’s GreenChill program, visit www.epa.gov/greenchill.