Target Unveils New Sustainability Partnership With EPA at Hudson Store

Target held a press conference Tuesday, April 26, at its Hudson store to announce a new partership with the Environmental Protection Agency. It is the first big-box retail chain to join the GreenChill program.

The program is aimed at reducing refrigerant emissions and helping retailer's adopt green refrigeration technologies.

Dan Riley, vice president of property developments operations for Target, said that "Target's participation in the GreenChill program is the latest example of how Target is progressing towards our sustainability goals."

The Target store in Hudson is now using a non-toxic refrigerant, known as R-134a, which is more efficient and environmentally friendly than other refrigerant technologies.

Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) joked about R-134a, saying, "I may not know exactly what that means, but I know it's important, and that's why Keilly Witman is here, to explain it better to us all."

EPA representative and GreenChill program manager Keilly Witman noted that "refrigerant emissions of an average store in the nation actually do more harm to our climate than a stores entire electricity consumption for the entire year."

She added that "it's incredibly important that companies, like Target, step up and set goals and achieve those goals" with energy reduction.

Kind also said that "a lot of this has already been developed, it's not like we're waiting for the next generation of technology to occur," and added that "Target is leading the rest of the nation, showing how well this can be done, and why it makes good business sense."

The GreenChill program began three years ago, with six companies signing up as partners to the program. It now has 52 partners with more than 7,000 stores nationwide, which is 20 percent of the entire supermarket industry.