Refrigerant Replacement and Recycling
Due to the laws governing the release of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants (CFC’s) into the atmosphere, has resulted in the development of procedures to recover, recycle and reuse refrigerants.
Due to the laws governing the release of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants (CFC’s) into the atmosphere, this has resulted in the development of procedures to recover, recycle and reuse refrigerants.
Recovery is to remove the refrigerant from a system in any condition that is found, and store it in an external container, without it being necessary to test or process it in any way.
When recovery is complete, the low side valve is closed. The system should settle for at least 5 minutes. If the pressure rises to 10 psig or more, it may mean that there are pockets of cold liquid refrigerant remaining through the system, and it may be necessary to restart the recovery process.
What is the main component present in electronic waste?
Antifreeze, a chemical necessary for vehicles, is very hazardous. Check with your government to find out how to dispose of waste antifreeze. Take used antifreeze to a recycling center that accepts it. You should send antifreeze contaminated with oil or gasoline along with paperwork to a hazardous waste handling facility. Immediately cover spills with an absorbent material for cleanup, such as kitty litter.
What types of waste are generated in a refrigerator?
Alvaro Lozano (AL): In Mexico 14 centers were created for the responsible management of refrigerant gases, where they could analyze the gases, based on that study, to know which are feasible to recycle and return them to the market, or send them to destruction.
AL: In the case of Ecofrigo, in addition to operating as a recycling center, it functions as a hazardous waste collection center specializing in refrigerant gases. The function is to accumulate large quantities of gas at the center so that, in the future, they can be recycled or destroyed if they are not suitable for recycling or are out of use, such as R12.
AL: We have been involved in air conditioning all our lives; our father had an air conditioning company. One day, a customer spoke to us to ask us to change refrigerant gas, a R22 for an ecological one, and the truth is that we had no idea. We got on the internet and saw the replacement; we made the change, we already had the gas recovered and did not know what to do with it. Then we went to the Semarnat and they told us that at that time they were creating recycling centers and refrigerant gas recovery. At that time we were invited to put a center in Acapulco, a project that was not possible to realize, and then we were given to Celaya.
How to dispose of cooling gels
In spite of the extensive legislation for the commercialization to qualified companies, the handling of gases by approved companies, leak control, the obligation of the owners of the facilities to have a maintenance company and to manage the waste through authorized managers, currently most of these hazardous gases are released into the atmosphere.
The analysis of this problem and the probable implementation of this work strategy will be one of the proposals to be made at the next regional waste roundtable, in which the Association of Waste Managers of the Canary Islands (AGERCAN), the Canary Islands Recycling Foundation, Ecoembes, Cabildo de Tenerife, the regional Ministry of Industry and Energy and the Agency for the Protection of the Urban and Natural Environment (APMUN) will participate.
Refrigerant gases are a type of hazardous waste with a high global warming potential, which has led to various European and national legislation that companies that handle refrigerant gases must comply with and which seeks their correct management, as well as their progressive replacement by gases with a lower global warming potential.