Chile. The Chilean Chamber of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning A.G. is currently working with the Sustainability and Climate Change Agency (ASCC) on a Clean Production Agreement (APL) for the productive sectors of the HVACR industry, nationwide.
The idea of developing an APL has as its antecedent the Zero Leakage Program, devised in 2017 by Rodrigo Serpa, program officer of the Montreal Protocol Division of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
Since then, the objective of Zero Leakage has been to promote the reduction in the consumption of refrigerants of type hCFC and hFC, while improving the use and handling of these liquids. In this way, the program contributes to prevent and eliminate losses that decrease the operability and energy efficiency of the systems.
According to Serpa, what is sought is to break certain paradigms between technicians and users of refrigeration and air conditioning systems: "As if the refrigerant is over and therefore you have to recharge it. When the reality is that the refrigerant is not consumable and there does not have to be a need to be recharging the system. If this happens, it's because the liquid is leaking and that costs money," he explains.
About APLs
A Clean Production Agreement is a voluntary agreement concluded between a business association representing a productive sector and the competent public bodies in environmental, health, occupational health and safety, energy and water efficiency and productive development. Its objective is to promote sustainable production through specific goals and actions within a given time frame.
In the Chilean case, there are four official standards that favor the development and implementation of the agreement being prepared by the Chilean Chamber of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning A.G and ASCC:
- NCh 2797 Of2003 Clean Production Agreements (Clean Production Agreements) - Specifications.
- NCh 2807. Of2003 "Clean Production Agreements (Clean Production Agreements) - Monitoring and Control, Conformity Assessment and Certification".
- NCh 2825, on "Requirements for Final Assessment Auditors".
- NCh 2796, on "Vocabulary" applied to this Certification System.
Recognition of APLs
On October 22, 2012, the UN internationally validated the APLs as the first Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA), valuing the efforts of the National Council for Clean Production (now the Sustainability and Climate Change Agency) to promote eco-efficiency and sustainability in Chile.
As of 2016, the government agency has decided to publicly report the emission reductions achieved through Clean Production Agreements, following the guidelines of the Ministry of Environment.
Between 2012 and 2019, the reductions are estimated at 1,466,336 tons of CO2, with APL being the first Chilean mitigation action to report reductions to the United Nations.
