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R-22 Refrigerant Gas Phase Out
How to Prepare Your organization
for the Phase Out of R-22 (HCFC) Refrigerants.
According to their 2008 study, the EPA is limiting the amount to HCFC R-22 to 20% less than industry demand. This means that R-22 will likely increase in cost substantially and available stocks could be bought up by the bigger organizations. It also means that reclaimed, recycled, and used R-22 could become more valuable than virgin in that it could be used “universally” in pre and post 2010 systems.
The Pending 2010 Allocation Rule: What it Means to Your Organization
The R-22 phase out regulation defines the United State’s plan to allocate virgin hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) to meet the international obligations under the Montreal Protocol.
The rule proposes to reduce the amount of R-22 and other HCFCs available to the United States market for the period from 2010 to 2014.
To understand this rule better, one should look at the United State’s historical implementation of the Montreal Protocol. In 2003, the U.S. met the 35 percent step down in the HCFC cap by phasing out R-141b used in foam blowing.
The EPA set an allocation number on R-22 to 100 percent of the 2004 market demand. The market conditions will change in 2010 when the EPA plans to reduce the R-22 allocation to 26.5 percent of the original cap. This will result in a 73.5 percent reduction in the supply of R-22 HCFC refrigerants.
The End is Near for R-22 Refrigerant Gas
This regulation change and the new allocation of R-22 could create a large gap in the availability of virgin R-22 refrigerant. It is hoped that this will stimulate an increase recovery and reclamation of used refrigerant. It is too soon to tell if these strategies will mitigate refrigerant sourcing challenges or not. But these policy enhancements will be a boon to EPA certified reclaimers.
The prudent strategy is the continued education of your organization related to the R-22 phase out requirements and to begin managing your refrigerant inventory more accurately.
Large users of R-22 HCFC refrigerants should take in to consideration the value of the recovered refrigerant when planning retrofits as prices are expected to soar.
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