Nestlé said it is rolling out more environmentally efficient ice cream freezers for retail shops across Europe. In a statement today, the global food giant said it has pledged that going forward all new commercial horizontal ice cream chest freezers bought by Nestlé across Europe will use only natural refrigerants.

The refrigerants are naturally occurring substances (like carbon dioxide, ammonia, water or air) and hydrocarbons (propane and iso-butane) which do not harm the ozone layer and have no or negligible global warming effects, according to the company's statement.

The new horizontal ice cream chest freezers will reduce energy consumption by more than a third, in comparison with existing systems. Nestlé has introduced 18,000 natural refrigerant hydrocarbon freezers worldwide.

The company has also invested more than 240 million Swiss francs ($265.2 million) to replace synthetic refrigerants with natural alternatives in more than 92% of its industrial refrigeration systems.

The decision to systematically introduce these commercial horizontal ice cream chest freezers across Europe is part of Nestlé’s commitment to progressively phase out the use of high global warming potential refrigerants, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFC).

It also moves the company beyond meeting the Consumer Goods Forum Resolution on Refrigeration, which encourages businesses to take action towards phasing out some HFC refrigerants from 2015.