End users warned on R22 exit strategies

摘要

Equipment operators could be left high and dry when the ban on virgin R22 comes into force. Three gears to go... and counting. Now we are well into 2007, the 2010 deadline for the phase out of HCFC refrigerants - in particular, the industry's favourite, R22 - is looming. The HCFC market has been shrinking steadily since its peak in 1994, when 8,500 tonnes of R22 was sold into the UK industry. In 2000 it was down to 6,000 tonnes, at which point new products were prohibited from using HCFCs, so they became 'service only' gases. And last year, the R22 market stood at about 3,500 tonnes, according to BOC.