Cooling market not ready for HCFC ban
A study, sponsored by refrigerants manufacturer DuPont, has revealed that 65 percent of cooling installations in nine key EU markets* still use HCFC refrigerant gases despite the fact these gases will be banned in less than two years' time. An estimated 130,000 tons of HCFC gases are still in use throughout several million installations across the EU, primarily in the form of R22. Tens of thousands of these installations will need to be serviced every week in order to ensure compliance by January 2010 when the ban, which was announced as part of EU legislation introduced in 2000, comes into force. According to DuPont's study, a number of HCFC users intend to wait for the ban on recycled HCFCs to be introduced in 2015 - the 2010 ban only applies to 'virgin' gases - in the belief that there will be a sufficient supply of reclaimed R22. However, given the high cost of the recycling process, distributors predict that they will only be able to provide around 15 per cent of the amount needed to service remaining installations using HCFCs. DuPont is leading a campaign to help users understand the implications of the legislation and the options available to them. Click here for details.
Although 90 per cent of respondents to the survey claimed to be aware of the impending ban, DuPont said "this has not been coupled with a sense of urgency to ensure compliance. Of those who have not yet taken action, 17 per cent claim to have no intention to do so."
This will place a significant strain on contractors to carry out equipment changes as the deadline looms. Manufacturers are also expected to start scaling down their production of HCFCs from mid-2009. These twin factors threaten to create a serious bottleneck, and the subsequent scramble could be extremely expensive for end users who depend on air conditioning and refrigeration equipment to keep their businesses running.