Australia ‘top of the world’ in refrigerant management

It’s official – ARC are ‘best in the world’ – or so says a recent US report into regulations and licensing of environmentally damaging refrigerants.

Released in 2016, the report by US Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI)* has Australia as a global leader in areas such as effectiveness, cost/burden on industry, stakeholder engagement and level of success. This was in comparison to Canada, California, Japan, the UK and the United States, as well as China, Brazil and the European Union. And in terms of results, the numbers speak for themselves:

• Controls around handling and trade of refrigerants has resulted in 24.37 megatonnes of CO2-e direct emissions savings.
• Recovery and destruction has prevented the emission of 5000 tonnes of ozone depleting refrigerants and stopped 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent from entering the atmosphere.
• Domestic licensing (ARCTick) has the support of 80,000 licensed individuals and businesses Australia-wide.

Mission accomplished? Far from it. According to a 2015 report by Expert Group, the ARC licence scheme will continue to provide significant direct and indirect emissions savings over the next two decades, with further direct emissions reductions estimated at 58.02 megatonnes CO2 projected to 2030.^ While the licence scheme administered by the ARC provides a world’s-best practical framework – it is the licensed technicians and businesses that give it effect and that should be congratulated.

* Research Project 8018, Review of Refrigerant Management Programs
^ Expert Group, Assessment of environmental impacts from the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989, April 2015.

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