World News

Industry news and insights from Europe and around the World

UK News

Latest news and developments in the United Kingdom

Products

Keep up-to-date with the latest new products and technology

Features

General articles, applications and industry analysis

Blue Cube switches away from R404A

UK: Faced with increasing costs of R404A, cold store rental company Blue Cube is switching to lower GWP refrigerant blends.

Blue Cube’s latest generation equipment are increasingly being manufactured with lower GWP R404A replacements R452A and R449A. These HFO blends are also replacing R404A in current fleet units.

The company says these steps will benefit customers by reducing costs and environmental impact and also goes towards their target to actively seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“We will continually strive to develop the most energy efficient equipment we can that will contribute, long term, to the quality of the environment,” commented Blue Cube MD Steve Blakemore. “This not only demonstrates Blue Cube’s commitment to the environment but helps reduce our customer’s costs and carbon footprint,” he added.

Established in 2009, Staffordshire-based Blue Cube offers a wide range of temperature-controlled storage solutions including blast freezers, blast chillers, portable cold stores and tempering units. The company provides both standard and bespoke rental systems to suit individual performance and budgetary requirements. As well as rental, the company offers lease to buy options and ex-fleet units for purchase.

Latest News

9th March 2026

Daikin extends Altherma 4 R290 range

BELGIUM: Daikin has added a smaller range of its Altherma 4 EPSKS series R290m heat pumps in 4kW, 6kW and 7kW capacities for mid- to highly-insulated houses.
8th March 2026

Chemours faces €20m fine for further F-gas quota violation

NETHERLANDS: Chemours faces a further penalty payment of nearly €20m after claims by Dutch authorities that the company once again placed more HFCs on the European market than permitted.
8th March 2026

British Gas rapped over heat pump claims

UK: British Gas has been rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for using unsubstantiated energy-saving heat pump claims in an advert.
8th March 2026

Over 400 tonnes of ODS/HFC seizures in 2024

BELGIUM: The World Customs Organisation (WCO) has reported 134 seizures of ODS and HFC commodities in 2024, totalling 437,609.6kg of illegal gas and equipment.
7th March 2026

$100m initiative will target super pollutants

USA: A group of leading global companies has announced a $100m initiative to accelerate the reduction of super pollutants including refrigerants. The Superpollutant Action Initiative – aims to deliver positive…
6th March 2026

WorldSkills 2026 set to play bigger role

UK: With entries open for this year’s WorldSkills, the Building Engineering Services Association claims this year’s competition will be more important than ever in attracting young talent to the industry.