Appliance makers, EPA create initiative to cut emissions

March 8 -- Appliance manufacturers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have developed a voluntary program to reduce emissions from the manufacture of household refrigerators and freezers.

The program, jointly developed by the EPA and the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, will cut hydrofluorocarbon emissions from the annual manufacture of 12 million refrigerator-freezers in the U.S. and more than 60 million worldwide.

Hydrofluorocarbons have replaced ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons as a refrigerant and as a blowing agent for the insulation foam in refrigerators and freezers. Though hydrofluorocarbons do not harm the ozone layer, they are potent greenhouse gases, some 1,300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

The new program outlines strategies to reduce emissions during all stages of production, including delivery, storage, factory piping, blending operations, equipment calibration and foam injection.