Banned F gas for refilling equipment

Question

Accepted Answer

You must not use virgin (unused) F gases to refill existing refrigeration systems when both of the following apply:

the refrigeration system contains F gas equivalent to 40 tonnes or more of carbon dioxide (CO2)
the F gas has a global warming potential above 2,500

This does not apply to military equipment or equipment designed to cool products to temperatures below –50°C.

Mass of common F gases banned for refilling equipment

F gas	Global warming potential	Mass of F gas banned from use to refill equipment (kg)
HFC 508B	13,396	3
HFC 507A	3,985	10
HFC 404A	3,922	10.2
HFC 434A	3,245	12.3
HFC 422D	2,729	14.7

HFC 404A is the gas most affected by the ban. It’s used in:

industrial refrigeration systems
medium and large commercial refrigeration systems, such as central pack systems in supermarkets
large transport refrigeration systems, such as on trains or ships

If you need to add refrigerant to a system affected by the refill ban, you can:

use an F gas with a global warming potential of more than 2,500 that has been reclaimed (until 2030 only)
use an F gas with a global warming potential of more than 2,500 that has been recovered and recycled from similar equipment by your business or the business which serviced your equipment (until 2030 only)
remove all of the F gas from the system and replace it with an F gas with the lowest possible global warming potential, for example HFC 448A or HFC 449A (known as ‘retrofilling’) - follow the manufacturer’s recommendation
replace the refrigeration system with new equipment that uses a refrigerant with a lower global warming potential