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Roundy's has announced that it will join EPA's GreenChill program, which is a partnership between the EPA and food retailers to reduce emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change.
PRESS RELEASE
MILWAUKEE, WI -- (Marketwired) -- 10/15/15 -- Roundy's, Inc. ("Roundy's") (NYSE: RNDY), a leading grocer in the Midwest, today announced that it will join EPA's GreenChill program, which is a partnership between the EPA and food retailers to reduce emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change.
In 2014, Roundy's became the first grocery store in Wisconsin, and only the third store in the U.S., to utilize a Transcritical CO2 refrigeration system in their Menomonee Falls Pick 'n Save location. The Transcritical CO2 system eliminates the use of ozone-depleting Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). One pound of leaked HFC refrigerant has more global warming potential than 4,000 pounds of carbon dioxide. The Menomonee Falls store is regarded as one of the "greenest" supermarkets in the nation and was awarded a Platinum level certification by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's GreenChill Partnership Program.
"The new Transcritical CO2 technology is more environmentally friendly than its chemical counterparts. Roundy's is proud to partner with the EPA's GreenChill program and do its part to help reduce HFC emissions," said James Hyland, Roundy's vice president of investor relations, corporate communications and public affairs.
Since the opening of the Menomonee Falls store in January, 2014, the Transcritical CO2 refrigeration system has performed flawlessly. Using the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator, the yearly reduction of greenhouse gases are approximately 33.6 metric tons and 36,047 pounds of coal being burned.
With the success of the Menomonee Falls store's Transcritical CO2 installation, Roundy's has entered into a GreenChill Partnership with the EPA, pledging to install the Transcritical CO2 refrigeration system or whatever improved non-HFC technology becomes available in all new store builds and any store remodels where the entire refrigeration system is scheduled for replacement. Six newly built stores are scheduled to open in 2016.
"We not only strive to give our customers a great shopping experience, but also want to contribute to the communities in which we do business, as well as the global community," said Robert Mariano, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Roundy's.
The announcement of Roundy's partnership with the EPA's GreenChill program can be found on the White House website: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-and-releases