EPTA’S SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION GOES THE EXTRA MILE

Epta’s sustainable innovation goes the extra mile as a result of joining prestigious European and international research programs, to make commercial refrigeration more efficient and reduce its overall environmental impact.

ENOUGH: how to decarbonise the food chain

The ENOUGH project, financed by the European Union program Horizon 2020 and coordinated by SINTEF Ocean in Norway, aims at decarbonising technologies for food distribution and refrigeration, in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2050.

Epta, in its role as Green Transition Enabler, participates in the research program, developing solutions able to make the cold chain climatically neutral and more efficient. Specifically, Epta conducts new studies on the accumulation of thermal energy in commercial refrigeration systems to integrate renewable energy sources, in favour of greater system sustainability.

RENAD: Sustainable Innovation in the Food&Beverage and Retail sectors

The RENAD program (Refrigerazione Naturale Agrifood Digitale), launched by Epta in 2020 and approved by the Ministry of Economic Development (MISE), focuses on three-year industrial research and experimental development activities, aimed at planning new natural, sustainable and digital refrigeration solutions in the Food&Beverage and Retail sectors.

These new technologies, characterised by the use of natural refrigerants and resorting to the Internet of Things and Ecodesign, reduce consumption and promote a circular economy, thanks to the recycling of end-of-life products.

Specifically, Epta has made several existing solutions more efficient in terms of energy performance, an example is the refrigerated cabinet Sound Top, with 25% less consumption. It has also equipped the VIPay plug-in, smart fridge machine branded Iarp, with the casherless payment system, based on the video recognition of the withdrawal of the articles inside the cabinet.

The LIFE VicorPan project gives new life to Vacuum Insulation Panels

The LIFE VicorPan (Vacuum improved Insulation by CORe shaped PANels for refrigerators) project, co-financed by the European Union, gives new life to Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIP), both domestic and commercial, with the two-fold objective of increasing energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions.

The installation of VIP, namely vacuum insulation panels with open-cell foam, produced with natural materials such as polyurethane, ensures greater lightness, flexibility and structural insulation of the panels, and a significant reduction in energy consumption, up to 12% on the commercial application and up to 17% on the domestic application for best solutions in class A++.

Epta is currently studying how to apply the VIP panels to positive and negative refrigerated cabinets to further improve their efficiency.

The Life-C4R project: an example of excellence

The Life C4R (Carbon 4 Retail Refrigeration) project is an example of excellence and a milestone in the development of sustainable technologies, in which Epta has participated as group leader and absolute protagonist.

Conducted between 2018 and 2021 and co-financed by the European Union, Life-C4R is a project focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, raising awareness among the Retailers, and promoting the realisation of a new generation of natural CO2 refrigeration systems, to ensure greater efficiency in any climatic condition and significant energy saving.

Complying with these principles, Epta has merged reliability, safety, and respect for the environment in the development and patent of new technologies Full Transcritical Efficiency (FTE) System and Extreme Temperature Efficiency (ETE) System, present worldwide in more than 900 installations.

The studies have produced results far beyond expectations, confirming an annual reduction in energy consumption of between 15 and 23% and up to 20% with the Life-C4R technologies compared to the traditional CO2 systems.