DuPont Refrigerants and EOS Climate have partnered to encourage the return of recovered chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants by paying contractors and equipment owners for the ozone-depleting substances, which will then be safely destroyed.
The Montreal Protocol has phased out CFCs — which EOS Climate says are up to 11,000 times more potent than CO2 — but large amounts of CFC produced prior to phase-out deadlines remain in equipment and products. Without proper containment, management and other end-of-life solutions, these refrigerants will be emitted into the atmosphere.
The DuPont CFC Buyback program, part of EOS Climate’s Refrigerant Revolution, will be offered through DuPont’s nationwide network of distributors and reclaim centers as an expansion of the company’s current reclaim program. The initiative is intended to drive responsible handling through return and destruction of all quantities of CFC refrigerants through aggregation at DuPont distributor locations. Eligible refrigerants include R-11, R-12, R-113, R-114, R-115 and R-500.
Joyce Wallace, North America regional business and marketing manager, DuPont Refrigerants, says the program provides economic benefits that will motivate contractors and equipment owners to go beyond compliance to reach sustainability goals and reduce their carbon footprint.
Earlier this month, DuPont, BASF, Dow, Honeywell and the rest of the American Chemistry Council’s member companies pledged to implement 11 industry best practices to evaluate and improve their product safety performance.
Last year, Honeywell began destroying inventories of CFC refrigerants and selling the resulting emission reduction credits for use in California’s greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program. The company stopped US production of CFCs in 1995 in accordance with EPA regulations.