Black market for refrigerants: Climate monitoring raises the alarm!

Black market for refrigerants: Climate monitoring raises the alarm!

Vienna, Österreich - An alarming phenomenon comes to light: the mechanisms of illegal trade in refrigerants, an important problem in the European Union, were uncovered by a secret examination of the German magazine "Der Spiegel" and the Austrian daily "The Standard". Accordingly, massive amounts of these environmentally harmful substances continue to be in circulation on the black market. These refrigerants, especially fluorinated gases, which contribute to global warming, are smuggled over complicated routes, which often lead through several transit countries and the eastern border of the EU. In addition, some of these gases come directly from Asian countries, especially China, which indicates the need for stricter controls, as mentioned in the report.

regulations and their effects

But that's not all: On Thursday last week, a preliminary agreement for updating the F-Gase Ordinance was announced, which was for 2024. Nevertheless, it was decided to enter into force until 2025, which concerns the requirements for the refrigerant market. According to the agreement, there will be no further tightening from 2024, but for 2025 strict bans from classic refractations in indoor climate devices and other devices such as heat pumps are provided. This gives hope that those responsible will initiate serious measures to combat environmental damage by these substances, as the CCI industry ticker reports.

The refrigerants with a high greenhouse potential, such as R410A, are particularly critical of regulation. From January 1, 2027, significant bans for different device types are to be introduced here. This could significantly change the entire industry and significantly restrict the use of environmentally harmful refrigerants - a development that is not only necessary but overdue in order to advance climate protection in Europe. The conversations and negotiations are still in progress, and it remains to be seen whether the decisions are actually implemented, as is emphasized both in the reports of "Der Spiegel" and in the CCI industry ticker.