United States. DuPont warned its U.S. customers of the immediate need for a refrigerant management plan, following the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) announcement of a 29% reduction in R22 supplies this year.
According to a letter recently published by the EPA, the U.S. HVAC/R industry will have to live this year on 39 million pounds of virgin R22, up from 55 million pounds in 2012.
According to DuPont's North American sales representative, Jim Bachman, these reductions in R22 supply force the creation of a refrigerant management plan that includes modernizing R22 refrigerant recovery alternatives.
"DuPont has an active refrigerant recovery program," said Jim Bachman, "however, the recovery rate seen by the industry in recent years will not be enough to fill the gap in available R22."
In total, more than 71 million pounds of R22 have been withdrawn from the US market since 2010. The rate of increase of the 2013 reduction, coupled with the acceleration of the original 2012 phase-out schedule, remanufactures existing equipment to alternative R22 refrigerants to mitigate the price volatility of the same.
Despite these reductions in supply and large R22 price increases, shipping of air conditioning units in the U.S. continues. While the law prohibits the sale or distribution of R22 in that country, there is nothing to prevent manufacturers of units from producing R22 for on-site cargo.
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