What Is the Difference Between Refrigerant Recycling and Reclamation?

Refrigerant recycling and reclamation are important options for any business invested in cooling equipment. As refrigerant circulates through a system over time, it tends to accumulate contaminants and impurities. After extraction, many refrigerants can be recycled after filtration and oil separation processes. The Underwriters Laboratories and Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute both have standards of certification for equipment that can be used for refrigerant recycling. Many businesses choose recycling to save money, particularly for equipment that uses refrigerants like R-22 that are being phased out by the EPA. Recycled refrigerant must be used by the same owner or business. Given the rising costs of some increasingly scarce types, reclaimed refrigerants can be sold to an EPA-certified reclaimer instead of being recycled.

Challenges and Advantages of Reclamation

The refrigerant reclamation process requires that refrigerants at least meet the ARI-700 purity standards. In other words, the refrigerant must be filtered to the point where it meets the purity standards for new product, much more than that of refrigerant being recycled by the same company. By contacting a reclaimer with a "buyback program," businesses can inquire about whether the refrigerant in their system may be worth selling.