Chile. The municipality of Puerto Varas inaugurated its first refrigerant recycling and regeneration center, which focuses on the recovery, recycling, regeneration and collection of refrigerant gases.
In March, the commune of Puerto Varas was inaugurated, the first center for recycling and regeneration of refrigerants in the southern zone. The ultimate goal of this center is to recover and clean the gases used in refrigeration and air conditioning equipment, preventing them from being released into the atmosphere and making them able to return to the market as suitable for new uses.
According to the Ministry of Environment of Chile, the entity in charge of the project, "the center was awarded by public call to the company Sofrisur S.A., and its work will be focused on the recovery, recycling, regeneration and collection of refrigerant gases, in order to extend their use when they are recovered and regenerated, returning to the market as suitable for new uses. "
Another relevant point is that the news is part of the publication of the most recent United Nations study – the Quadrennial Assessment Report of the Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol – which confirms that the ozone hole will be recovered by the 2060s.
Carola Iturriaga, the Seremi of Environment Region of Los Lagos, stressed that this plant contributes to addressing the depletion of the ozone layer and climate change, the implementation of the circular economy and decentralization.
He also assured that "the importance of the inauguration of this plant can be pointed out in three lines; One is the importance of climate change mitigation, with a concrete measure to recover greenhouse gases and to mitigate the effects of climate change; The second is to advance the circular economy. This is a concrete example of how we recirculate a product, in this case refrigerant gases that could go into the atmosphere to damage the ozone layer or pollute. We are reincorporating them so that they can continue to be used for refrigeration purposes; and also the importance of advancing in decentralization by having a plant or a place where refrigerant gases can be recovered from the Ñuble region to the south. This is very important considering the relevance of the aquaculture industry, especially here in the Lakes Region, which needs a lot of refrigeration, but not only for the aquaculture industry, but for the entire food industry."
For her part, Georgina Cruz, in charge of Management of Sofrisur, pointed out that "this project is for us a great challenge and a tremendous commitment also with the environment. We are a company that has been dedicated to the refrigeration industry for more than 15 years and this has been a great opportunity from the environmental point of view. Therefore, we are happy to have been awarded a project of this type. The message is to invite other companies in the field not to pollute and to use these methodologies and regeneration technologies to collaborate with a circular economy".
Finally, the Mayor of Puerto Varas, Tomás Gárate, valued that this type of project is carried out from Puerto Varas, "This is an important advance not only for the commune of Puerto Varas, but for the entire south of Chile, since it comes to deliver pioneering technologies in terms of the recovery of refrigerant gases, What does that mean?, refrigerant gases are present in many things, in cars, refrigeration systems, air conditioning, etc. but once they are discarded they generate significant damage to the ozone layer. "
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