EXCHANGE Volume 02, No. 1, 2024, pp. 49-55

Jiaxin ZHAO

The Impact of Refrigerant Recycling on Reducing Carbon Emissions

Abstract: Climate change is a serious global environmental problem currently facing humanity, and greenhouse gas emissions are an important cause of global climate change. Refrigerant recovery and treatment are of great significance in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In order to reduce the ozone layer destruction and global warming caused by refrigerants, this paper analyzes the status quo of refrigerant recovery and disposal in the United States, the European Union and Japan, aiming to effectively manage refrigerants to reduce their environmental hazard. On the basis of in-depth industry research, this article focuses on the recovery and regeneration process of refrigerants as the main research object. Based on the LCCP climate performance model, a carbon emission assessment model for the refrigerant recovery and regeneration process is constructed. Taking the recovery and regeneration of automotive air conditioning refrigerant R134a as a case, its carbon emissions are calculated. The results indicate that in this case, recycling and regenerating the refrigerant can reduce equivalent CO2 emissions by approximately 42%.

Keywords: Climate change; refrigerant recovery; carbon neutrality.