Efficient fridge recycling is essential

This year's extreme summer weather has brought back into focus an environmental problem that is still seriously underestimated by the public in general: the effects of fridge recycling

This year's extreme summer weather has brought back into focus an environmental problem that is still seriously underestimated by the public in general.

There is now a general consensus amongst climate experts that the global climate is changing.

That human activity is a major cause of this change is also no longer seriously disputed.

Fridge recycling has been an integral part of the waste management sector for eighteen years and is a key element in countering the destruction of the earth's stratospheric ozone layer.

What is less widely known is that the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) contained in end-of-life refrigeration appliances make a sizeable contribution to global warming.

In an effort to curb emissions of greenhouse gases the RAL Quality Assurance Association is demanding the use of state-of-the-art fridge recycling technology.

If state-of-the-art technology is not deployed in the fridge recycling sector, the fears of the RAL Quality Assurance Association look set to be confirmed.

If the average amount of CFC recovered is only 75% (or possibly even less) of that which is technically achievable, the deficit would represent an annual loss equivalent to the emission of at least 1.6million tonnes of CO2.

Expressed in climate protection terms, the resulting environmental damage would be four times as great as the damage that would result if there was no recycling of lightweight packaging materials.

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