Chemours to end supply of R404A and 507A

EUROPE: Chemours has announced it will cease the supply of high-GWP refrigerants R404A and R507A in the European Union as of January 1, 2020.

The announcement comes as Europe prepares for the imposition of bans on high GWP refrigerants under the European F-gas regulation (517/2014) being implemented on January 1. 

Under the European F-gas phase down timetable, virgin HFC refrigerant with a GWP greater than 2500 will be banned from being used to service or refill refrigeration or freezer systems, with a refrigerant charge size of 40 tonnes of CO2e or more. This equates to around 10.2kg of R404A, a common refrigerant in medium sized systems. Smaller and hermetically sealed systems are unaffected by the ban but most manufacturers of such systems have already moved to lower GWP refrigerants.

In addition to the commonly used R404A, the ban will also include R507 and the R22 replacement gas R422D, both of which have GWPs in excess of 2500. The ban applies across Europe.

The rule also applies to companies who may have stockpiled these refrigerants before that date. Reclaimed or recycled refrigerant will still be able to be used until 2030.

Honeywell, one of Chemours major competitors, ended R404A sales in 2018.

Chemours already offers a number of lower GWP alternatives in its Opteon range. These include  XP40 (R449A), a solution for the retrofit of existing equipment, and XL40 (R454A) and XL20 (R454C), longer term solutions designed for new equipment.

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