A BILL has been launched in Parliament to end the use of environmentally damaging chemicals in supermarket fridges.
Eltham MP Clive Efford has launched the bill to stop hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) which he says can be 20,000 times more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide.
Mr Efford wants their use to be phased out by 2015, claiming this has the potential to save the equivalent of175 million tonnes of carbon dioxide between now and 2050.
This is more than one quarter of the UK's current annual greenhouse gas emissions.
The bill would require smaller retailers to introduce more environmentally-friendly equipment as their old units need to be replaced.
Mr Efford claims that with supermarkets still making profits, the sector is well able to absorb the costs of replacing HFCs with more environmentally-friendly products.
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