Ticking all the boxes, it’s a convenient, cost-effective and sustainable solution for the industry

Refspecs, in collaboration with Refdestruct, has launched a new initiative for New Zealand’s HVAC&R industry: a reclaimed refrigerant return scheme designed to simplify the process of handling recovered refrigerants.

Save on time and cost

“Filled cylinders of recovered refrigerant can be swapped out for new, clean cylinders with no need to wait for the cylinders to be emptied,” explains Rob Morgan, Refspecs manager, and this simple yet effective approach is already receiving praise from customers who appreciate leaving with a fresh, clean cylinder immediately.

By offering this hassle-free ‘swap a bottle’ service, Refspecs aims to remove the wait time traditionally involved in the return of cylinders – a barrier that has hindered efficiency for businesses across the country. Previously, companies have had to wait for their cylinders to be emptied before returning them. However, this programme removes the bottleneck and eliminates that waiting period by allowing businesses to swap out filled cylinders of recovered refrigerant for new ones straight away.

Environmental benefits

Not only does this efficient approach allow time-saving –which ultimately translates into cost savings – it also offers an eco-friendly approach by ensuring wider recovery cylinder availability and less risk of refrigerants entering the environment.

“Until recently, New Zealand had a very low recovery rate of cylinders,” explains Rob. “The widening of collection schemes such as ours has had a positive impact on the amount of refrigerant collected.” https://www.refspecs.co.nz

With a convenient way for refrigerants to be collected and properly managed, this contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the overall environmental footprint associated with refrigerant disposal – benefiting not only businesses and their efficiency, but also contributing to a more sustainable future for New Zealand.

What to know about Refspecs’ refrigerant collection programme:

1. You will need to either own a cylinder or purchase one to take part in the programme.

2. Refspecs provides cylinders in 20 and 40 kilogram sizes.

3. Refspecs offers customers a credit of $25 per kilogram of returned refrigerant.

4. Upon the return of a full cylinder, Refspecs will weigh and leak test it. It’s crucial to ensure that the cylinder is leak-free. Some older customer-owned cylinders have been returned leaking, and Refspecs cannot accept these. In such cases, customers will need to transfer the refrigerant into a leak-free cylinder.

5. Currently, Refspecs is unable to accept returned refrigerants that are flammable.