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SPONSORED BY Contractor hub www.heatingandventilating.net A role to play in circular economy


With the latest European F-Gas quota reduction on HFC refrigerants now well established, Peter Woods, technical sales director for Wolseley Climate’s refrigeration division, discusses the role contractors play in the circular economy of reclaimed refrigerants and why they must take reclamation seriously from here on out


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he year 2021 bought with it an additional 18% reduction in the European F-gas quota. As such, with the phasedown limiting the amount of virgin refrigerant that can be sold into the UK market, it will be reclaimed refrigerants that become vital for servicing existing equipment in the coming years. Reclaimed refrigerant sits outside of any quota restrictions and these HFCs can be used until the end of 2029 in accordance with the F-Gas legislation. While supermarkets have led the way in retrofitting more sustainable solutions, corner shops, petrol filling stations, pharmaceutical facilities and the food manufacturing markets to name a few, will require a new approach. With the summer of 2021 set to see a boom in post-pandemic activity across most industries, availability of refrigerant could become an issue, and as such both end users and contractors will be looking to new solutions such as reclaimed gases to solve their refrigeration challenges. The reclaim market is going to be crucial to the industry moving forward for several reasons.


Increasing availability


With legislation restricting how much virgin refrigerant can now enter the UK market, the reliance on virgin products is continually diminishing. With reclaimed refrigerant sitting outside of the quota restrictions, there is no limit on how much reclaimed product can be purchased


by contractors, effectively increasing the size of the available market.


However, without recovering these gases and taking them to reclamation specialists such as A-Gas for processing, the availability of these refrigerants will decrease, making them harder to get when needed. All refrigeration and air conditioning contractors play a crucial role in this circular economy to ensure reclaimed refrigerants are available for servicing existing equipment in future.


Educating customers


When equipment comes to the end of its lifecycle or is beyond economic repair, it’s a good opportunity for contractors to suggest moving customers onto more environmentally friendly solutions such as A2Ls. With most of the major retailers aware of the regulatory changes, many have already switched to low GWP solutions to improve their environmental footprint. However, bear in mind that many smaller businesses and end users may not be aware of the changes and how this affects their business. As a reputable contractor, it will be your role to educate customers on the F-Gas regulations and their impact on the environment.


What happens to reclaimed HFCs?


The circular economy of course relies heavily on merchants, like Wolseley Climate, as well as


contractors, to do their bit. As such, we have large 60 litre recovery cylinders available for delivery nationwide and collection at selected Wolseley Climate branches. We also offer a collection service free of charge to recover used refrigerant gases in order to resupply them to the market.


Once the refrigerants make it back to reclamation specialists such as A-Gas, it is then analysed and weighed to understand what’s in it and what percentage of product the cylinder holds. From there, it will then go through a cleaning process to remove contaminants such as oil or moisture. It is then re-blended to the virgin specification outlined by the AHRI 700 Standard (2019). At that point, it can be made available to the market once again, without restriction from the F-Gas regulations and without any reduction in quality.


For contractors, it’s important that the waste product is returned to the refrigerant processor in the correct cylinders. Standard HFCs are sent back in normal recovery cylinders but if the engineer knows in advance that A2Ls are likely to feature, they should ensure that they have the right recovery cylinders to handle these gases. As a commitment to encouraging the reclamation market, cylinders from Wolseley Climate are supplied on a one-month free loan enabling work to be carried out and for the cylinder to be returned within the one- month rent-free period.


Brand NEW Velocity range The Velocity cold water booster sets feature stainless steel multistage pumps mounted on a powder coated steel base plate.


The Velocity sets are controlled by our advanced variable speed control panel and different configurations are available offering maximum flow rates ranging from 4.4m3/h (75l/min) – 29m3/h (480l/min) per pump and maximum head pressures ranging from 1.0 – 16 bar.


12 July 2020 www.heatingandventilating.net


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