Aldi honored for ongoing green leadership open

Aldi is out front when it comes to energy efficiency and reducing harmful refrigerant emissions.

For the second consecutive year, the discount grocer was honored as a National Top 100 Partner by the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership for the chain's progress in transitioning to green power across its operations. Aldi is using more than 1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, which represents nearly 100% of its total power needs and, according to the EPA, is equivalent to the annual electricity use of almost 100,000 average American homes.

Aldi said it is taking actionable steps to increase its energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions through a continued transition to solar and wind energy. The company is also building out its renewable infrastructure to rely less on traditional power grids.

As of July 2021, Aldi is listed as No. 2 on the EPA’s Top 30 Retail Partners list and No. 15 on the Green Power Partner's “National Top 100 List” of the largest green power users.

In March, Aldi outlined its new “sustainability charter,” which includes a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26% by 2025 through a continued shift to solar and wind energy sourcing and by building out its renewable infrastructure to rely less on grey power grids.

“We're proud to be continually recognized by the EPA as a grocery leader in the voluntary green power market, and this acclaim solidifies our steadfast commitment to protecting our environment," said Dan Gavin, VP of national real estate, Aldi, which has more than 2,100 stores across 37 states. "Every day, our team works to increase energy efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint across all Aldi operations, particularly in regard to our carbon footprint of our stores and warehouses."

The EPA also honored Aldi with the 2020 GreenChill Store Certification Excellence award while more than 30 stores received the Store Re-Certification Excellence honors for reducing harmful refrigerant emissions. Aldi earned more EPA GreenChill store certifications in 2020 than all grocery retailers in the nation combined, all at the highest certification level.

In total, all Aldi U.S. warehouses and more than 420 stores use natural refrigerants. The company said it will continue to shift to natural refrigerants in all store locations.

[Read More: Aldi to open 100 U.S. stores in 2021]

"We applaud Aldi for their sustained commitment to reducing their refrigerant emissions," said Kirsten Cappel, GreenChill program manager. "Aldi continues to demonstrate their environmental leadership by having a record number of stores re-certify for over five years."

For more than thirty years, the EPA's Climate Partnership Programs, including GreenChill, have helped Americans and businesses transition to more environmentally friendly technologies and energy resources. In 2019 alone, these programs drove reductions equivalent to 8% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

The EPA established the Green Power Partnership in 2001 to protect human health and the environment by encouraging organizations to use voluntary green power and renewable electricity sources. By doing so, companies like Aldi help reduce carbon pollution and the corresponding negative environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use.

The ALDI charter for sustainability describes the company's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26% by 2025. This goal was set using science-based targets calculated specific to Aldi.