Belgian retailer Delhaize has announced that it has reduced energy use across the company by 3.5 per cent, and has eliminated the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) at all of the group's operations.

In the company's 2008 corporate responsibility report, Delhaize revealed that energy cuts had been achieved in a number of different ways, including the replacement of physical servers with virtual servers at its US-based Food Lion operation and the installation of doors on fridges at all new Belgian stores, reducing refrigeration energy use by 30 per cent.

Similar energy-saving methods in Belgium included advance heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems, as well as more efficient LED systems, the group said.

The elimination of ozone-depleting CFCs in stores is one of a number of other environmental moves by the group, alongside a reduction in non-reusable bag use and a waste-recycling rate of 51 per cent across all stores.