REFRIGERANTS
Reclaiming the future
A-Gas managing director John Ormerod on how the new trade deal with the EU and the Covid-19 pandemic are affecting the cooling industry.
T
hese are unusual times for our industry, and good news may be in short supply, but I am happy to report progress being made with reclaimed refrigerant on the road to a low carbon future.
The key role that reclaimed refrigerant will play in meeting the shortfall in virgin supplies created by the caps laid down by the F-Gas Regulation should not be underestimated. This year’s reduction of 29 per cent (on a CO2 equivalent basis) in virgin refrigerant quota will take the industry down to 45 per cent of the 2015 baseline level.
This reduction is huge and depending on the supply- demand balance, may well put pressure on prices. In the wake of this I am pleased to reveal that A-Gas is supplying a major UK car manufacturer with reclaimed R134a as a first-fill for air conditioning systems on its new vehicles. I am also delighted to report that A-Gas is supplying reclaimed R410A to a leading air conditioning equipment manufacturer to use in new air conditioning systems. This too is a significant move in the right direction. In both cases these deals highlight the growing demand from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for more direct ways to lower their carbon footprint. They understand
that by using reclaimed refrigerant they will be saving on the use of raw materials, energy consumption and unnecessary transport normally associated with the production of virgin refrigerant.
In today’s modern society, end users and customers are beginning to demand that their goods and services are produced and delivered in less wasteful ways. This move to a circular economy has to be part of the cooling industry’s sustainable future. We are well placed to reap the benefits of this circular economy – the opposite to the use and discard business model.
Britain’s departure from the European Union has been followed by the signing of the new trade deal with the European Union. Whilst aiming to be a largely tariff free deal on most goods, there will be the inevitable friction arising from the imposition of separate refrigerant quotas for the UK and the EU, as well as our exit from the Customs Union. It will make an immediate difference to how we interact as a business with our sister operations on the Continent. A-Gas will no longer be able to transport refrigerant between its plants in the UK and the Continent without this imposing on quotas as the EU and the UK are now separate markets.
24 March 2021
www.acr-news.com
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