UK: British supermarkets are exceeding targets to cut total greenhouse gas emissions from their refrigeration systems according to the latest progress report from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
The supermarkets - ASDA, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco, the Co-operative and Waitrose - who have signed up to the BRC's A Better Retailing Climate have already exceeded their own self-imposed target to cut emissions by 50% by 2013, relative to floor space.

Between them the supermarkets reduced refrigerant emissions by 52% relative to floor space between 2005 and 2012. Absolute emissions were reduced by 33%.

However, the supermarkets maintain that some financial and technical barriers continue to frustrate faster progress. The BRC has called on the UK government to back a phased approach to the reduction of HFCs in refrigeration and ease the transition to natural refrigeration systems and non HFC products through tackling the skills and knowledge barriers preventing a more rapid take-up of new technologies.

Following its own Code of Conduct for Carbon Reduction in the Retail Refrigeration Sector which was produced by The Carbon Trust, in collaboration with the British Refrigeration Association (BRA) and the Institute of Refrigeration in June 2011, retailers are using a variety of approaches to tackle the impact of HFCs, including reducing leaks and switching to low GWP alternatives.

Retailers are also making the refrigeration systems more energy efficient by installing night blinds and doors, recovering and recycling the heat refrigeration systems and capturing cold air spillage from open-front refrigeration cases.