here comes the playing field...it is flattening out and leveling off one more notch...
This will be big for frigc...
Frigc can now be recycled either back into same vehicle or in any vehicle owned within a fleet...instead of being sent to wherever it used to have to be sent at owners expense...
EPA this month changed the rule...
shopowners will take note of this.
Open Letter to the Motor Vehicle Air Conditioning Industry
June 1, 1998
I am writing to announce that as of June 1, 1998, EPA will allow recycling of refrigerant
blends used in motor vehicle air conditioning systems (MVACS), provided that a) recycling
equipment meets a new Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standard and b) refrigerant is
returned to the vehicle from which it was removed.
As you know, EPA has worked closely with the industry to ensure the purity of recycled
CFC-12 and HFC-134a, as provided by strict adherence to standards first established
voluntarily by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and later incorporated into EPA
regulations. In contrast, because such standards did not exist for blend refrigerants,
technicians could recover them and send them to a reclaimer, but they could not recycle
such blends. As explained in a letter to refrigerant manufacturers dated October 16, 1996:
"Service shops may either recover HFC-134a or recycle it using special
recycling equipment in the shop. Currently, however, it is not legal to recycle
any other alternative MVAC refrigerant. EPA's policy is that until a standard
for equipment designed to recycle a particular refrigerant is published and
available (by EPA or an industry organization like SAE or UL), then it is illegal
to recycle that refrigerant."
EPA has worked with UL and the MVAC industry since that letter was sent to develop
a standard for blend recycling equipment. On May 29, 1998, UL adopted Standard 2964:
Recover/Recycling Equipment and announced that it will accept equipment for certification
testing. UL also solicited any additional comments that might be appropriate; if, after
receiving comments, UL publishes an amended Standard, the new version will govern
equipment certification. Standard 2964 includes numerous requirements for recycling
equipment to guarantee that recycled blend refrigerant is similar in purity to recycled
CFC-12 or HFC-134a. EPA believes that recycling equipment meeting this Standard will
adequately remove oil, water, and other impurities. Under this Standard, technicians will
follow similar procedures for recycling pure refrigerants, such as CFC-12 and HFC-134a,
and blend refrigerants.
However, one key difference between pure refrigerants and blends is that blends may
fractionate, meaning that it is impossible to predict in advance what composition will remain
in the system after a leak. Because there is no means to guarantee the proper composition
of a recycled blend, EPA believes it is appropriate to recharge such refrigerant only into the
original vehicle. EPA is not allowing recycled blend refrigerant to be recharged into a
vehicle other than the one from which it was removed. The only exception is for fleets of
vehicles with a common owner; recycled blend refrigerant may be moved among vehicles
within such a fleet.
In summary, it is now legal to recycle blend refrigerants used in MVACS using
equipment certified to meet UL 2964, provided that refrigerant is returned to the original
vehicle. Under the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program, EPA has
provided consumers with numerous options to replace CFC-12, and this new policy will
ease the servicing of vehicles using blend refrigerants. If you have questions about blend
recycling, please contact our Stratospheric Ozone Protection Hotline at 800-296-1996.
Sincerely,
/S/
Drusilla Hufford, Director
Stratospheric Protection Division, EPA |
