Ben & Jerry’s, Unilever Roll Out Climate-Friendly Freezers in U.S.

Ben & Jerry’s and parent company Unilever announced plans to begin the rollout of new, climate-friendly ice cream freezers in the U.S. this year.

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, along with other Unilever ice cream brands like Breyers, Good Humor and Klondike, will soon be kept in cabinets that use at least 10 percent less energy and replace harmful “F” gas coolants with hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants.

The new freezers will be identified with “Greener Freezer” stickers in convenience stores, groceries and other locations.

After four years of trials and coordination, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently approved the technology behind the hydrocarbon freezer cabinets for use in the US, which Unilever has used for several years across Europe and Asia.

In 2011 alone, Unilever rolled out 22,000 climate-friendly freezers in non-US markets, resulting in a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 12,000 tons of CO2. In total, Unilever has more than 900,000 HC freezers in markets across the globe and has committed to purchasing all its U.S. freezers using the HC technology.

“Unilever’s leadership in eliminating HFCs from its coolers is helping to transform the entire sector,” said Amy Larkin, business advisor at Greenpeace who spoke at the Ben & Jerry’s program kick-off in 2008. “HFCs are projected to comprise 10-20 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions over the next 30 years, so this elimination is a significant step toward averting climate change.”

Bart King is a PR consultant and principal at Cleantech Communications.