Company looks to virgin fluorocarbon refrigerants and gasses

A-Gas has continued to grow worldwide since it was founded 30 years ago, initially supplying only virgin fluorocarbon refrigerants. It has evolved to offer innovative sustainability solutions to its customers and end-users. As the global leader in the supply and lifecycle management of refrigerants and associated products and services, it is the only global player in what it does, says A-Gas Group CEO Jack Govers.

He adds that the refrigerant gas circularity rate is at just 3%. “I am not saying that 100% is a realistic target, but there is much more the industry can do to avoid large quantities of refrigerant being released to the atmosphere at some point.”

“Only by working together can it really make a difference to the environment and that is the most exciting thing for me. The circular economy is the opposite to the take, make and dispose business model. This forces us to seek greater efficiencies and make better use of what the industry already has. Recovering and reclaiming refrigerants is a great example of this.”

He mentions that by doing so, the industry will ensure that these gases are not vented or leaked into the atmosphere, and it also avoids needing to produce the equivalent quantity of virgin refrigerants.

He adds that A-Gas has acquired destruction technology for refrigerants from Australia, to ensure that it is able to offer this capability to its customers.

“Bringing PyroPlas into the A-Gas portfolio, with its leading-edge plasma arc destruction technologies for fluorocarbon and non-fluorocarbon gases, is the final building block for us in laying the foundations for our sustainability offering. We have seen great interest in the market for increasing destruction capability of gases and are looking to meet this demand.”

Govers highlights that this accompanies the A-Gas Rapid Recovery network, which puts the company in the driving seat for safely recovering all used refrigerants in the most environmentally conscious manner.

“We are already a leader in reclamation, through unique in-house separation technologies and will continue to increase capacity for this across the world. “We have to offer customers the right tools to handle their own individual sustainability challenges. The supplier, original-equipment manufacturer, installer, and end-user all view the sustainability challenge differently.

“It is a heavily regulated industry and the goal is to ensure wherever our customers are working, they all buy into doing the right thing. The key issue is to continue to support and educate the industry on the added values and benefits of sustainability – particularly our customers.

“We have to help them understand what is possible, the solutions available, and how they can help to lower the carbon footprint of their business. “An increasing focus on sustainability together with greater environmental, social, and governance responsibility will help us all achieve this. I believe there will be a revolution in how the industry operates.”

He adds that regulation will have an influence, but at the end of the day the customer will drive the direction of the industry. The customers are already dictating how to do this. Currently, the company is working with a large international bank which is updating its air conditioning systems.

The latest proposals to revise the F-Gas Regulation is for an overall faster phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), combined with further global warming potential- (GWP-) based sector prohibitions, both of which will increase its opportunities to introduce further circularities into the industry. It will support this in the best way it can.

“The US’s Towards Zero Together drive towards incentivising circularity means it is catching up to Europe quickly. Their aggressive phase-down of high GWP gases already includes the requirement for reclamation.

“The potential to create carbon offsets from re-used refrigerants has also helped significantly. This focus puts the US ahead of Europe in terms of laying the foundations for the circular economy. “In Europe, there are no added incentives for businesses to further prevent the leakage of older refrigerants into the atmosphere.”

He mentions that governments only say that if you cannot reclaim for further use you should destroy or, in some cases, export it. The annual European Environment Agency figures covering reclaim, destruction or export, show only a very small percentage of what is put on the market meets any one of these three criteria.

“The right way to face this challenge is to adopt the principles of the circular economy and when these gases are no longer required, properly destroy them in a safe and verifiable process.

“It is imperative that Europe provides incentives to do the right thing here, to transition the installed bank over time to avoid any harm to the environment.

“In the latest A-Gas proposals there is nothing relating to the existing installed bank of refrigerants. Legislators must come up with good solutions to meet this challenge. Across Europe, there is somewhere in the region of half-a-million tonnes of refrigerant out there in use.”

Challenge Mitigation

He adds that to tackle the problem there is a need to educate decision-makers in government; secondly, solutions to solve the problem are needed and thirdly, there should be greater incentives for companies like A-Gas who want to find the answers.

“I believe it is about doing the right thing and managing the existing installed bank of refrigerants in a sustainable way – and ensuring it has a good purpose in the future.

“There have been many wow moments in my first few months in the industry. I really get excited about what it do around sustainability. Its abatement number for last year was 7.9-million tonnes of carbon dioxide – that is the equivalent of taking 1.7-million vehicles off the road for a full year.

“This has been achieved by reclaiming HFCs and avoiding bringing more virgin refrigerants on to the market. It really gives you a good feeling that as a team we are trying to help the industry become more circular.”

Govers mentions that predicting where A-Gas will be in five years’ time is a big question, but he has no doubt that in the years ahead it will continue on the same path and continue acquiring businesses that fit in with its growth strategy.

“It will continue to push towards circularity, recovering and reclaiming refrigerants and seeking environmentally friendly end-of-life solutions for the destruction of gases. I predict that in five years’ time, A-Gas will be a larger company which will derive even more of its income from the circular economy.

“As it continue to provide innovative and sustainable solutions to its customers and support them as they work to limit their carbon footprint, I see a very bright future for A-Gas,” he concludes.