Half of fridge plants failing to recover enough CFCs

Published today, the Agency audit found that four out of eight fridge recycling sites in England and Wales are not meeting the level of ODS recovery the Agency considers as “reasonable”.

” When you see a wide range of performances in what are very similar plants, there is certainly an issue there that industry needs to look at “
– Joe Field, Environment Agency
When released into the atmosphere, ODS refrigerants and blowing agents such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are thought to damage the ozone layer, which protects life from harmful solar radiation.

European ODS Regulations require the collection and recycling of fridges to limit the release of ODS, but does not set a standard for the amount of ODS that should be recovered from processed units.

Reasonable
In today's report, the Agency said it considered the recovery of 70-80% of a fridge's ODS to be “reasonable”, or a level of about 260 grams per fridge. However, among the eight sites surveyed in the report, only four met this standard.

The best of the eight sites audited had been recovering 337 grams of ODS per unit, but three of the sites were recovering less than 200 grams per unit, with one facility recovering just 168 grams of ODS per fridge.

Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Agency technical manager Joe Field said: “When you see a wide range of performances in what are very similar plants, there is certainly an issue there that industry needs to look at.”

Mr Field said the 260 gram level suggested as “reasonable” was not necessarily the level of recovery that could be achieved, and that a base-level could be adopted for fridge recycling that could be higher than this.

He said: “The 260g level was really just a halfway point for what we found. The Agency is now working with industry to look at a possible base-level, but it is likely to be much higher than this 260g level.”

Enforcement
Enforcement notices have been issued to two operators by the Agency concerning site licence violations found in the audits, with written warnings sent to two further sites. The Agency said three of the operators are having their site licences modified to ensure they report their recovery levels of ODS annually from 2005.

The Agency said it is looking into reasons for the differences between the performances of the fridge reprocessors involved, but Mr Field said there was some concern about how the number of fridges damaged prior to arrival at the sites. He added that there were also uncertainties about the recording of non-CFC fridge treatment and the inclusion of industrial fridge panels.

Overall, the audit said 381 tonnes of ozone depleting substances are being recovered each year in England and Wales. The report said there is now sufficient capacity to deal with all domestic fridges requiring recovery each year.