The HVAC industry's refrigerant transition is creating an increasingly valuable resource out of something contractors once treated largely as waste.

Recovered refrigerant.

As governments around the world reduce the production and consumption of high-GWP HFCs, reclaimed refrigerant is expected to become increasingly important for maintaining millions of existing systems.

That makes refrigerant recovery much more than an environmental compliance task.

It is becoming part of the industry's supply chain.

Reclaimed Does Not Mean Lower Quality

One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding reclaimed refrigerant is that it is inherently inferior to virgin material.

The key distinction is whether the refrigerant meets required purity standards.

AHRI Standard 700 establishes acceptable thresholds for contaminants, moisture, acidity and other characteristics.

The standard focuses on the chemical quality of the refrigerant rather than whether it was newly produced or reclaimed.

Properly reclaimed refrigerant must therefore be processed and tested to meet defined specifications before returning to the market.

Quality Matters More as Refrigerants Multiply

The issue becomes more complicated as the number of refrigerants in the field increases.

Contractors increasingly encounter:

  • R-410A
  • R-32
  • R-454B
  • Legacy R-22
  • Various refrigeration blends
  • HFO-based products
  • Hydrocarbons

Mixing refrigerants during recovery can dramatically reduce the value of recovered material and complicate reclamation.

Maintaining clean cylinders, identifying refrigerants correctly and avoiding cross-contamination therefore becomes economically important as well as technically important.

Existing Systems Still Need Refrigerant

New HVAC equipment may move toward lower-GWP alternatives.

The installed base does not disappear overnight.

Millions of existing systems will require servicing for years after manufacturing transitions occur.

As virgin supply is reduced under phasedown programs, reclaimed refrigerant can help support those systems without requiring equivalent new HFC production.

Contractors Are Becoming Part of the Refrigerant Supply Chain

That gives technicians a new role.

When refrigerant is properly recovered instead of contaminated or vented, it can potentially return to the market through reclamation.

Each service truck is therefore participating in a circular supply chain.

The refrigerant entering a recovery cylinder today may eventually help service another system tomorrow.

As HFC availability tightens, that cylinder may become considerably more valuable than contractors once assumed.