EU phase-out remains on track

EUROPE: Official figures maintain that the EU’s HFC phase-out timetable remains on track, following a 37% cut in material being placed on the market in 2024 – 1% below the maximum allowance. 

The figures produced for the European Environment Agency (EEA) reveal that refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps continue to be the main applications for F-gases, and a key driver for the phase-down success since 2015.

Total HFC supply in 2024 was 41,457 tonnes, down 26% on the previous year, and down 24% in terms of CO2e.

In total, the RACHP sector accounted for about 63% of 2024 EU F-gases supply in tonnes in 2024, or 51% measured in CO2 equivalents.

HFC reclamation increased considerably in 2024, rising 124% to 2,086 tonnes.

As was the case from 2021-2023, the use of quota authorisations needed in 2024 to cover imports of RACHP equipment under the HFC phase out exceeded the amount of quota authorisations newly issued in 2024. Compared to 2020, the amount of unused quota authorisations banked by equipment importers has decreased by 28%. However, the current size of the quota authorisation reserve still accounts for more than five times the amount of such equipment imported in 2024.

While the figures keep the industry within the EU F-gas phase-out schedule, the figures also keep the EU 60% below its global phase-down obligations under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. 

The EEA figures, however, do not take account of the widely reported illegal trade in HFC refrigerants, pointing out that, being outside the reporting and compliance system, they cannot be quantitatively accounted for.

The latest report, Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases 2025, is available for download here.