Global Update
USA
ASIA
LEAKS CAUGHT ON CAMERA
BULK PURCHASE
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has released the details of an investigation into refrigerant leakage in US supermarkets. The project, aimed at raising mainstream awareness of refrigerant management issues, is titled “Leaking Havoc” – and the results are indeed alarming. EIA investigated supermarkets in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland using portable refrigerant leak detectors and found most stores to be leaking high‑GWP refrigerants.
The Hisense Home Appliances Group has announced the deal to buy a 75 per cent stake in Sanden Holdings, a Japanese company that makes heat pump systems and compressors for air conditioners, in addition to automotive and electrical equipment. According to the Home Appliance subsidiary of the Hisense Group, Sanden was the second-largest auto air conditioner compressor maker in the world as of 2019.
The investigation focused on Walmart and other top-grossing supermarkets in the region, documenting leaking systems and capturing them on video.
Hit by plunging auto sales, the Japanese company filed for debt restructuring with its creditors claiming the coronavirus pandemic had made it difficult to pursue its restructuring plans. It was also accruing losses after pulling out from Iran following pressure from the US.
It found that refrigerant leaks were detected in 60 per cent of the Walmart stores that were investigated. Across all other companies visited, 55 per cent of the stores were measurably leaking, consistent with concerns that refrigerant leaks are an industry-wide problem.
Hisense Group is a household brand in Chinese home electronics, occupying strong positions in product markets such as air conditioners, TVs and refrigerators. The group is positioning the acquisition as a strategic move into the automotive sector. ■
The EIA recommends improving company policies and government regulations to identify and repair the leaks in every store. ■
EUROPE
WORLD
PLUGGING THE LOOPHOLE
COOL DAY FOR COOL CAREERS
The European Fluorocarbons Technical Committee (EFCTC) has recommended changes to Europe’s transit procedure in order to prevent illegal HFC imports. The committee believes the illegal imports are being trafficked in the EU due to exploitation of the T1 transit procedure, which facilitates border crossings of goods within the EU and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states. The group claims that loopholes in this system accounted for a total of 34MtCO2e – approximately 15,000 tonnes – of illegal HFC imports from 2018 to 2019. Recent EFCTC investigations showed a difference between declared EU imports and Chinese exports of HFCs to the EU, in addition to an analysis of T1 Transit shipments and products seized in EU ports. To weed out offenders, the EFCTC recommends making it mandatory for consignees of T1 to register with customs, be assigned a profile ID, enabling checks on the consignees’ company details. ■
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HVAC&R Nation
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www.airah.org.au/nation
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April–May 2021
With just a short time to go until World Refrigeration Day on June 26, organisers of the annual event have announced this year’s theme: “Cooling Champions: Cool Careers for a Better World”. The WRD 21 campaign will focus on careers in the HVAC&R industry. “The goal of the campaign is to inspire students and young professionals – both men and women – in all countries, encouraging them to meet the challenges faced in their communities,” say the event organisers. “A new generation of cooling champions – engineers, technicians, researchers, educators, policy experts and executives – are needed to create controlled environments modern life requires. The benefits of reaching into a wide diversity of communities for promising talent will be a high campaign priority.” The WRD Secretariat will partner with UNEP OzonAction to run the international awareness campaign, which was created to raise the profile of the HVAC&R sector. ■
