The European Commission is expected to vote on the latest F-Gas Review proposals in April, 2023.
The Commission has proposed an accelerated F-Gas phase down which has support from a number of EU member states.
However, industry claims the revised phase down is unrealistic.
The phase down seeks to restrict new split system air conditioners and heat pumps of up to 12kW to HFCs with GWPs of less than 150 from January 1, 2027.
This would limit new products to a near zero GWP refrigerant, such as hydrocarbons, CO2 or HFOs. In addition, from the same date, new systems over 12kW would be restricted to refrigerants with a GWP of 750 or less.
At the same time five EU member states – Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark – are seeking to ban per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) which would include a high number of F-Gases.
The European FluoroCarbons Technical Committee (EFCTC) is strongly opposed to this ban.
The EFCTC has commissioned the consulting company Ricardo to undertake an independent socio-economic analysis (SEA) of the contribution of certain F-Gases to the economy and the wider society.
The report will be used during consultation with the European Commission and to show how the bans will impact the wider economy.