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Refrigerant Gas Legislation
The refrigeration and air conditioning sector has been subjected to significant legislation to control the use of harmful refrigerants.
BOC fully supports these changes, and is a Member of the Federation of Environmental Trade Associations (FETA), which incorporates the British Refrigeration Association, Institute of Refrigeration and Building Controls Industry Association.
BOC is also a stakeholder member of relevant DEFRA and DECC committees, who consult with BOC on relevant environmental legislation changes.
The main pieces of legislation are summarized below.
Visit the 'F-Gas Support' site for further details
Ozone depleting substances
Under the Montreal Protocol it was agreed that ozone depleting substances (ODS), including CFCs and HCFCs, would be phased out globally.
European timescales
In Europe, CFCs have been banned since 1994 (e.g. R12, R502).
The use of HCFCs has been banned in new equipment since 2000 (e.g. R22, R408A).
The use of HCFCs in service and maintenance has been reducing since 2000 and virgin HCFCs will be completely phased out by 1 January 2010.
For details on alternatives to HCFCs, visit BOC’s websiteF-Gas and ‘MAC directive’
The principal objective of F-Gas is to contain, prevent and thereby reduce emissions of fluorine gases, which contribute to global warming if released to the atmosphere.
The Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations, 2009, set out the legal obligations for companies and qualification requirements for personnel working in five industry sectors as well as dealing with other requirements relating to:
- leakage checking
- recovery
- reporting
- labelling
- prohibition of use
- prohibitions regarding placing on the market
The five sectors affected are:
- stationary refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps
- fire protection systems and fire extinguishers
- mobile air conditioning
- high voltage switchgear
- solvents
Hazardous waste
BOC is licensed under the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 to keep, treat and dispose of controlled waste from its processing site at Immingham, near Grimsby.
The licence requires BOC to regularly report to customers exactly how waste collected from them has been dealt with - whether recycled, stored or disposed of via incineration.
All hazardous waste collected by BOC is categorised under one of 14 hazard codes, four of which are specific to refrigerant waste.
For further details please call 0800 02 0800 or email us
