Consideration of Refrigerant Recovery and Reclamation Facilities for Disseminating Life-cycle Refrigerant Management in Developing Countries

Abstract

　This paper focuses on the economic aspects of promoting life-cycle refrigerant management (LRM) in developing countries. This is the management of refrigerants in accordance with the life stages of refrigerators, air conditioners and refrigerants. The authors carried out a model analysis of refrigerant recovery and treatment costs, finding that the costs of refrigerant recovery and treatment were greater for smaller amounts of refrigerant charged in the equipment, such as in residential air conditioners. As a countermeasure, a proposed was made to consider refrigeration recovery and treatment as part of waste management, introducing practices under the Home Appliance Recycling Act in Japan. In addition, a reclamation method developed in Japan was introduced and shown to facilitate easier operation and maintenance with a sufficiently reasonable capital investment, considering the effects of controlling foreign currency outflow in refrigerant importing countries.