Multinational companies that compete with each other in the marketplace can be on the same side of the game when it comes to protecting the environment. Here is an emerging example of a group of such companies joining together to protect the ozone layer and climate.

Hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs) are fluorinated gases that are used in refrigeration and air conditioning applications worldwide. HFCs are the most commonly used type of F-gases to replace chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and HCFCs — two substances being successfully phased out under the Montreal Protocol because of their ozone-destroying properties. All of these substances are extremely potent greenhouse gases with a very high global warming potential (GWP) and HFCs are controlled under the Kyoto Protocol.

Industries and consumers using these substances have a great challenge: how to make the transition away from these refrigerants to safe, economical and environmentally-sound alternatives?

One group of major companies is showing leadership in this area by blazing the trail away from fluorinated refrigerants to what is known as “natural refrigerants”. Natural refrigerants are naturally occurring substances, such as hydrocarbons (propane, iso-butane), CO₂, ammonia, water and air. These substances can be used as cooling agents in refrigerators and air conditioners and do not harm the ozone layer and are benign for the climate.

Known as “Refrigerants, Naturally!” partnership promotes a shift in “point-of–sale” cooling technology in the food, drink and retail sectors towards refrigeration technologies that do not use fluorinated refrigerants. Member companies - Carlsberg, The Coca-Cola Company, IKEA, McDonald’s, PepsiCo and Unilever - are reducing their impact on climate change and ozone depletion by replacing HCFC and HFC refrigerants with natural refrigerants, by using HCFC and HFC-free insulation material and by reducing the energy consumption of new refrigerating equipment. This is done through substantial efforts or investments to progressively replace fluorocarbons with natural refrigerants including research and development, testing, financial investment, staff time or public engagement. The members are committed to developing prospective timetables to move their operation towards these goals and to periodically share technical information about alternative refrigeration within the initiative via regular meetings, special events/workshops, and bilateral exchanges. Further, data and results are shared with external stakeholders, such as their wider supply chain, their industry peer groups, government decision makers and the public.

Currently, more than 300,000 hydrocarbon-based freezers by Unilever for ice cream have already been installed throughout Europe, Latin America and Asia, as well as more than 15,000 bottle-coolers and vending machines in China, Europe and Latin America from The Coca-Cola Company, Carlsberg and PepsiCo, either operating with CO₂ or hydrocarbon refrigerants. McDonald’s opened a completely HFC-free pilot restaurant in 2004 which allowed it to monitor and test HFC-free equipment and performance.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Greenpeace International are official supporters and take an active role in the management of the initiative.

Roles of each partner

The six companies have committed to reduce their climate and ozone impact of their point of sale refrigeration technologies. Their role is consequently to regularly report to the members of the partnership about their progress to fulfil their commitments.

The supporters UNEP and Greenpeace contribute through investment of personnel resources, communication tools and their specific know-how to communicate the initiative’s goals and achievements to the public, in particular industry stakeholders, policy-makers and the media.

The unique partnership enables an open and constructive dialogue between the different partners, i.e. the six global corporations, the international organization UNEP and the NGO Greenpeace.

History of Refrigerants, Naturally

UNEP (through its Paris-based Division of Technology, Industry and Economics OzonAction Programme) and USEPA were instrumental in organizing the Alternative Refrigerants Forum in Illinois to promote the adoption of non-CFC and non-HFC refrigerants by multinational corporations, including McDonald’s, The Coca-Cola Company and their competitors. UNEP and Greenpeace were requested to provide advice on commonly available alternatives refrigerants that are ozone as well as climate friendly. The collaboration resulting from that forum became an ongoing dialogue between UNEP, Greenpeace, McDonald’s, The Coca-Cola Company and Unilever that later gelled into the Refrigerants, Naturally! partnership, first manifesting itself publicly in the 2004 conference in Brussels. Since that time, Refrigerants, Naturally! has been officially recognized as a Partnership for Sustainable Development by the UN Commission on Sustainable Development as a voluntary, multi-stakeholder initiative that contributes to the implementation of Agenda 21, Rio+5 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

How the partnership has been coordinated and how the partners work together

Since its inception the partnership has been coordinated through regular meetings and internal communication tools. General meetings have been organized at least twice a year, where the partners have discussed forthcoming activities and outreach to suppliers, companies, which fall within the scope of the initiative, policy-stakeholders and media. Through annual meetings of the initiative’s technical working group the partners shared their technical data and experiences with the implementation of natural refrigerants in their point-of-sale cooling equipment. In January 2007, the partnership has contracted a consultancy to provide secretariat functions. This has helped to improve the management and administration of the network, which grew in 2006 when PepsiCo, IKEA and Carlsberg joined Refrigerants, Naturally!

On a regular basis, Refrigerants, Naturally! invites other companies which operate point-of-sale cooling technologies to participate in the technical exchange meetings. The initiative has the potential to induce a real shift in the implementation of point-of-sale cooling technology in the food and drink, food service and retail sectors towards natural refrigerants, but a critical mass of companies is crucial to exert a substantial impact on suppliers and policy makers. The more companies follow suit, the more accepted HFC-free refrigeration will be and the more likely natural refrigerants will move into the mainstream refrigeration

For more information, please contact Linda Ederberg, Refrigerants, Naturally! Secretariat, or Rajendra M. Shende, Head of UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics OzonAction Branch or visit the following websites:

 www.refrigerantsnaturally.com or www.unep.fr/ozonaction