King Kullen and Wild by Nature Join the EPA's GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership

Nov. 5, 2008 - PRLog -- King Kullen Grocery Co., Inc. and its subsidiary, Wild by Nature, have joined with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help protect the environment.  The earth-friendly initiative is EPA’s GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership — a voluntary program to promote green technologies, strategies, and practices that protect the stratospheric ozone layer, reduce greenhouse gases, and save money.

  “King Kullen and Wild by Nature have pledged to go above and beyond existing regulatory requirements to help protect the environment,” explained Cindy Newberg, Branch Chief in the EPA’s Stratospheric Protection Division.  “Both companies are in the process of establishing an inventory of current refrigerant emissions that affect climate change and the stratospheric ozone layer, and setting reduction targets for these emissions.  King Kullen and Wild by Nature should be commended for taking this major step towards reducing ozone-depleting refrigerant charges and minimizing refrigerant leaks.”

 Under the agreement with the EPA, King Kullen and Wild by Nature have committed to:

   Require all new and remodeled stores to be ozone friendly in advance of Clean Air Act phase-out requirements.
   Establish an emissions inventory, which will be used to set emissions reduction targets.
   Participate in an industry/government research initiative to assess the performance of advanced technologies.
  “At King Kullen and Wild by Nature, we have long recognized our responsibility to protecting the environment, primarily through our highly successful in-store recycling programs,” explained King Kullen Vice President Thomas K. Cullen.  “Working with the EPA’s GreenChill Partnership is the next step to reducing our carbon footprint.  We look forward to introducing ozone-friendly refrigeration alternatives and advanced refrigeration technologies throughout our stores.”

 According to the EPA, GreenChill partners in the food retail business have refrigerant emissions rates nearly 50 percent lower than the EPA-estimated industry average. These partners are responsible for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from refrigerants totaling 2.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide — equivalent to the annual emissions of 500,000 cars.

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King Kullen Grocery Company, Inc. headquartered in Bethpage, New York, is recognized by the Smithsonian Institution as America's first supermarket. Founded in 1930 by Michael J. Cullen, King Kullen today employs more than 5,000 people and operates 49 stores throughout Long Island and Staten Island. More information is available at www.kingkullen.com. With four locations in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Wild By Nature has operated for more than a decade on Long Island, meeting the needs of health-conscious consumers and those seeking quality goods and services. More information is available at www.wildbynature.com. More information is available about EPA’s GreenChill Partnership at www.epa.gov/greenchill.