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Refrigerant Recovery Enforced by EPA Regulations Contained in the U.S. Clean Air Act

Daniel J. Stouffer
April 20, 2009
EPA regulations, currently covered in The U.S. Clean Air Act, require facilities that use refrigeration and air conditioning equipment to have in place a refrigerant recovery plan. This plan will enable these facilities to capture any harmful gases that might leak. Severe damage can be caused to the ozone layer by refrigerant gases that contain hydrochlorofluorocarbons.

Environmentally harmful refrigerants will be phased out under a worldwide plan. Some facilities will still need refrigerant and a refrigerant recovery process will assist them. As new refrigerant is banned, gas recovery becomes more important to meet the wide demand amongst those companies who do not yet need to replace their systems.

There are several purposes for refrigerant recovery, including reclamation, recycling and destruction of hydrochlorofluorocarbons. These initiatives will help reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere, provide a market for the used gas, and cut out the need for new refrigerant.

The process of refrigerant recovery starts when equipment is being thrown away or when vapor needs to be eliminated to minimize gas release and maximize refrigerant capture. Such a process involves removing the refrigerant from cooling and refrigeration systems and placing safely elsewhere.

Commercial refrigeration, air conditioning systems and HVAC systems generally utilize a system where refrigerant recovery is handled internally. New EPA regulations insist that facilities monitor and track recovery rates. There are software vendors who specialize in this area and will offer programs to automatically handle this.


As the federal government is conducting audits to ensure that facilities comply with refrigerant recovery requirements, companies are increasingly wary of the steep penalties which would result from noncompliance. Such companies are switching to an efficient automated system, as opposed to a manual and time-consuming effort.

Large commercial facilities require special techniques for refrigerant recovery due to their high volume. Other programs include a cylinder pump down service, which transfers refrigerant from the system to a cylinder. A cylinder exchange program allows for the reclamation of refrigerant, with a clean cylinder received in exchange.

Refrigerant recovery can take place during a retrofit and be used to service other equipment. Once safely removed from the system, the refrigerant is tested for purity at an approved facility, before being shipped to a recycling plant.

Refrigerant tracking products from Verisae help to organizations manage the EPA enforcement of the refrigerant gas recovery requirements documented in The U.S. Clean Air Act. Verisae makes it easier to report refrigerant usage and track ozone depleting substances (ODS) across all HVAC-R systems. Explore further Verisae's refrigerant management tools at www.Refrigerant-Tracker.com
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Daniel J. Stouffer

I am Daniel Stouffer. I am a part-time writer, passionate Solar Energy Consultant, and a full-time Product Manager for Refrigerant Tracker, a solution to help manage, track, report refrigerant gases.

Educated in English and Mathematics, I dabble in writing pieces of this or that on the Internet while I work my day job building demand side energy management, carbon footprint reporting, and refrigerant gas tracking software.

I work for Verisae, Inc. I'm deeply involved in carbon management and renewable energy. My quest is to bring solar energy to U.S. Residential homeowners and to better manage the substances that harm our environment.

I'm also a small business owner working to promote the adoption of renewable energy. Solargies (Solar Energies), my goal is to spread the use of renewable solar power as simply and as rapidly as possible. He is also a writer, investing his time and energies educating people about renewable energy, the exciting world of interactive marketing, and other oddities of interest. (www.Solargies.com)

My personal mission statement: To gather data, to distill information, to build knowledge, and to attain wisdom. To learn, to work hard, and to be internally motivated when acquiring skills. "Every person that you meet knows something you do not - learn from them."

Verisae's Refrigerant Tracker and the Enterprise Carbon Footprint (ECF) products allows companies to take inventory of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and refrigerant gas emissions. CO2 gas, Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS), and refrigerant gas emissions are tracked and better manage. Organizations can have a direct effect on the environment through better data management and taking accurate inventories of all greenhouse gases (GHGs) that contribute to their Carbon Footprint.

In my position, I work collaboratively with client teams to understand their goals, document the solution, and mange User Centered Design projects. I'm driven to implement solutions that deliver measurable business value and enhanced user experience.

As a Product Manager for Refrigerant Tracker, I help design how to make the right content available to the right people at the right time. My role involves the design of interactive systems that help users find and manage information or functionality more successfully. (www.refrigerant-tracker.com)