German retailer joins Daikin refrigerant reclaim scheme
20th May 2021
GERMANY: Leading drugstore retailer dm-drogerie markt is the first German retailer to join Daikin’s LooP scheme for refrigerant recovery, reclamation and reuse.
The Loop (L∞P) initiative reclaims recovered refrigerants and upcycles them to virgin quality for reuse, making an important contribution to reducing material consumption and ensuring the responsible use of valuable resources. The scheme enables customers like dm to close its “loop” and become even more sustainable.
The scheme was launched in 2019 and covers all EU member states, UK, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland.
The retailer turned to Daikin some years ago to completely rethink the energy management of its network, which has grown to over 2,000 shops today, by using VRV heat pumps. Now dm-drogerie is taking another leap in reducing its environmental impact by going circular for the refrigerant it uses across its shops.
Daikin and dm-drogerie markt executed the first pilot test case in 2020, when a total of 15.4kg of R410A refrigerant was recovered from a refurbished store. This refrigerant was successfully reclaimed and then reused in a dm store in Bad Nauheim. For the pilot case, Daikin and the partnership between German contractors Koch Kälteanlagenbau GmbH and Schneider Umwelttechnik, and refrigerant supplier and handler Westfalen.
We plan to speed up the implementation of the programme in 2021 to make another important contribution to resource conservation,” commented Martin Auer, head of building services development at dm. The result is that today nearly 60kgs of refrigerant have already been recovered from the dm network.
Whenever there are plans to refurbish a dm store, a Daikin planning specialist is appointed to support the process. The refrigerant is professionally recovered and collected in recovery cylinders by a dm installation partner, then taken to a reclamation plant to reclaim the refrigerant to virgin quality.
Finally the refrigerant is re-used at the Daikin factory and the reclaimed quantity is administratively allocated to the heat pumps installed in the refurbished dm stores, closing the refrigerant loop for dm.
Related stories:
Daikin extends reclaimed refrigerant scheme – 19 October 2020
BELGIUM: Daikin Europe is expanding its use of reclaimed refrigerants to all of its new VRV systems manufactured and sold across Europe. Read more..
Daikin backs reclaimed refrigerant in A-Gas tie-up – 14 June 2019
UK: In a ground-breaking initiative, Daikin UK is to partner with refrigerant management company A-Gas to encourage the recovery and use of reclaimed refrigerant. Read more…
