MISSISSAUGA, Ontario - Refrigerant Management Canada (RMC) announced that it has now collected and safely destroyed over 1 million kilograms of environmentally-damaging refrigerant waste.

Championed by industry, RMC is Canada’s response to the Montreal Protocol and the global challenges of ozone depletion and climate change. An industry-led environmental program, RMC is a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI).

RMC collects ozone-depleting (ODS) refrigerants and arranges for their environmentally safe disposal.

“This waste material - chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) - are the principle contributors to global ozone depletion,” said Warren Heeley, president of HRAI. “We are extremely proud of the initiative and leadership shown by our members. We have led Canada’s implementation of the Montreal Protocol.”

According to the association, RMC has achieved a very significant milestone as the program has successfully collected and destroyed over 1 million kilograms of this damaging material. The refrigerants RMC collects and destroys are also greenhouse gas emitters (GHG) - major contributors to global climate change.

“This industry-led environmental program is one of the most successful of its kind in the world,” noted Heeley.

RMC’s claims are certified by the EcoLogo program, the federal government’s mark of environmental leadership. “The public has grown rightfully wary of environmental claims,” said Scott McDougall of EcoLogo. “Our job is to set criteria for genuine environmental leadership, and to test and verify claims against those standards. We’re extremely pleased to certify the claims and progress of the RMC program to date, and we will go on scrutinizing the RMC program.”

Publication date: 11/26/2007