Keeping refrigerants in circulation and out of the atmosphere
Refrigerants used in air conditioning and cooling systems are among the most potent greenhouse gases on earth, some are thousands of times more warming than CO₂. When they leak or are improperly disposed of, the climate impact is enormous. This project takes a circular economy approach. Used refrigerants are recovered from systems across the United States, cleaned of contaminants at an EPA-certified facility in Livonia, Michigan, and returned to the market for reuse.
The longer these refrigerants stay in use, the fewer new ones need to be manufactured. That's less production, less waste, and a more circular cooling industry
The project contributes to the the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
How refrigerant management contributes to climate action
Many existing systems use hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have a high global warming potential. When they are released into the atmosphere through leaks, maintenance activities or at the end of a system’s life, they contribute directly to global warming. Responsible refrigerant management throughout the entire lifecycle of refrigerants helps reduce these emissions.
Refrigerant management includes a range of measures throughout the lifecycle of refrigerants. These include the early detection and repair of leaks, the transition to refrigerants with lower global warming potential, and the recovery of used refrigerants. During recovery, refrigerant is removed from a system, cleaned and either reused on-site or reclaimed at a specialised facility. During reclamation, the refrigerant is cleaned and tested to ensure quality standards are met. This allows it to be used again in air conditioning and refrigeration systems.
Climate projects focused on refrigerant management address different stages of this lifecycle. Real-time monitoring systems detect leaks at an early stage, enabling faster repairs and reducing emissions. Advanced refrigeration systems use refrigerants with lower global warming potential, such as ammonia, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons or certain hydrofluoroolefins. Recovery and reclamation projects keep existing refrigerants in circulation for longer and reduce demand for newly produced substances. Refrigerant disposal projects ensure that old or unusable refrigerants are managed appropriately and do not enter the atmosphere. Depending on the project type, emissions reductions are quantified based on avoided leaks, replaced refrigerants, reused quantities or demonstrably destroyed substances. Refrigerant management projects in the ClimatePartner portfolio are registered under international standards.
The project aims to contribute to these United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Four criteria for projects to meet quality thresholds
The life cycle of a climate project
A climate project has a set life cycle consisting of various phases, from the feasibility assessment to the retirement of Verified Emission Reductions (VERs).
The project developer reviews the general feasibility of the project, the project design, and the financing. Then, the Project Design Document (PDD) is prepared, which contains all the basic information about the project, such as the objective, location, timeline, and duration.
In this phase, independent auditors examine the PDD and the information it contains. This phase often also involves field visits with on-side interviews and analyses. Auditors are accredited, impartial assessors who have to be approved by the relevant standard as a validation and verification body (VVB). TÜV Nord/Süd, S&A Carbon LLC., and SCS Global Services are examples of VVBs."
Once validated, the project can be registered with a standard such as the Verified Carbon Standard or the Gold Standard. All high-quality climate projects are based on international standards. They provide the framework for project design, construction, carbon accounting, and monitoring. Recognised standards make the climate project system and the projects themselves resilient, traceable, and credible.
After the climate project has been registered, the monitoring begins. Here, the project developers monitor and document the data of the project activities and progress. The duration of the monitoring phase varies from project to project: it can cover two years, but documentation over five or seven years is also possible.
At the end of each monitoring phase, a VVB checks and assesses whether the values and project activities stated in the monitoring report are correct. As with validation, visits to the project site are often part of the verification process.
Once verified, the emission reductions that were confirmed in the verification phase can be issued as VERs. The steps of monitoring, verification, and issuance of VERs are repeated regularly and are therefore considered as a cycle.
Once a VER has been used, it must be retired. This process is also reflected in the registry. If the financing of a climate project is done through ClimatePartner, the VERs are bundled in a system certified by TÜV Austria and then retired on a regular basis. This ensures that each VER can no longer be sold and is only used once, preventing double counting.
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