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Refrigerant Reclamation: the act of returning to ARI-700 used refrigerant gas which has previously been used in some type of cooling loop. Used refrigerant must be processed by a certified reclaimer, whom must be licensed by the EPA and the material must be recovered and delivered to the reclaimer by EPA certified technicians.

Reclamation of used refrigerant by an EPA-certified reclaimer is required in order to sell used refrigerant not originating from and intended for use with motor vehicle air conditioners and stationary equipment like air conditioners, refrigerators, central AC systems, and other cooling equipment that contain CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs. The EPA implemented a Code of Federal Regulations in 1995, #24896, in order to develop actions to meet the agreements defined in the MONTREAL Protocol.

Reclamation, as it refers to refrigerants, is one of three components in a refrigerant management process.

The EPA defines refrigerant reclamation as:

Reclaim refrigerant means to reprocess refrigerant to at least the purity specified in appendix A to 40 CFR part 82, subpart F (based on ARI Standard 700–1993, Specifications for Fluorocarbon and Other Refrigerants) and to verify this purity using the analytical methodology prescribed in appendix A. In general, reclamation involves the use of processes or procedures available only at a reprocessing or manufacturing facility.

EPA establishes rules and regulations that Reclaimers must acknowledge and they license these reclaimers to operate, certified reclaimers can be easily located at a site managed by the EPA to help people find options. However in most cases wholesale distributors provide this service as an intermediary, since they have such great resources to manage distribution. A list of some of these companies can be found at HARDI. This site can help with a list of companies active in collecting used refrigerant.

The EPA requires that refrigerant be reclaimed when a certified technician recovers refrigerant and puts it in a special DOT container and has no plan on putting it back in the same system he recovered it from.

The final rule published on May 14, 1993, requires that refrigerant sold to a new owner be reclaimed to the ARI Standard 700 of purity by a certified reclaimer (Sec. 82.154(g) and (h) referencing standard in Sec. 82.164 and the definition of reclaim found in Sec. 82.152). As discussed in the final rule, this requirement protects the purity of used refrigerant to prevent damage to air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment from the use of contaminated refrigerant. Equipment damage from contaminated refrigerant would result in costs to equipment owners, in releases of refrigerant from damaged equipment through increased leakage, servicing and replacement, and in reduction in consumer confidence in the quality of used refrigerant. This reduction in consumer confidence could lead to the premature retirement or retrofit of CFC or HCFC equipment since consumers would no longer believe that a sufficient stock of trustworthy refrigerants was available.

ARI – 700, recently renamed AHRI, has been the leader in developing standards and managing third party testing & certification programs. AHRI oversees the ARI reclaimer program: Refrigerant Testing Laboratory Certification Find ARI Performance Certified™ Refrigerant Testing Laboratory Certification

Program Scope
The certification program includes verification for all participating refrigerant testing laboratories, performing ARI 700 testing on any new or reclaimed refrigerants.

Certified Ratings
AHRI also works with many participants in the industry to insure that the standards that reclaimers are expected to achieve are well defined and support the highest level of integrity so technicians can be confident in the materials they are using and installing.

But before reclamation can begin the material must be recovered and the EPA defines that as: Recover refrigerant means to remove refrigerant in any condition from an appliance and to store it in an external container without necessarily testing or processing it in any way.

Some circumstances where the material is being put back into the system it was removed and not being transferred to a new system the material can be recycled and the EPA defines that as: ''Recycle refrigerant means to extract refrigerant from an appliance and clean refrigerant for reuse without meeting all of the requirements for reclamation. In general, recycled refrigerant is refrigerant that is cleaned using oil separation and single or multiple passes through devices, such as replaceable core filter-driers, which reduce moisture, acidity, and particulate matter. These procedures are usually implemented at the field job site.''

There are many certified reclaimers and if you are looking to find a certified reclaim technician to recover used refrigerant, you can check with the Air Conditioning Contractors Association, or with RSES as they have many active chapters throughout the US and NATE, the North American Technician Excellence, and also look in your local Yellow Pages and ask the air conditioning or refrigeration companies if they have certified technicians and if they have a refrigerant recovery / reclaim program in place.

The reclamation process safeguards our future inventories and eliminates the need to make more refrigerant while insuring that refrigerant is not vented to the atmosphere because these materials have been shown to have an impact on the both the ozone and global warming More information can be found here.

Coolant and refrigerants are everywhere, in our homes or at work, like refrigerators, air conditioners, central AC systems, chillers in buildings, freezers, dehumidifiers and we have to do our part to insure that when these units are serviced, for routine maintenance by properly trained and certified technicians in order to insure that this material is conserved and managed properly. For more information about global warming and the impact it is having on our immediate environment, visit the World Wildlife Fund.