Life Cycle Assessment for R134a reclamation
Finally, after a lot of hard work and many iterations we have finally completed our life cycle assessment for the reclamation of the refrigerant R134a at our facility. Moreover, the study has been critically reviewed by external experts at AFRY to ensure its validity. Please find the download link of the Abstract below the article. For access to the full LCA please contact us.
Some key takeaways from the study are:
- Climate impact of R134a reclamation was estimated to 0.248 kgCO2-eq/kg. This is lower than the estimated emissions for virgin R134a manufactured in Europe 10.5 kgCO2-eq/kg (Yasaka et al., 2023).
- Collection of raw material (used refrigerant) is the largest contributor to all environmental categories assessed (climate change, acidification, and abiotic depletion of fossil fuels).
- Recapture of refrigerant samples during oil analysis reduced GHG-emissions from production by 60%.
These findings support the notion that refrigerant reclamation is an environmentally favorable option to manufacturing of virgin refrigerants.
[1] Yasaka, Y., Karkour, S., Shobatake, K., Itsubo, N., & Yakushiji, F. (2022). Life-Cycle Assessment of Refrigerants for Air Conditioners Considering Reclamation and Destruction. Sustainability, 15(1), 473.