There are a growing number of incentives being offered in the marketplace to increase the amount of recovered R-22 returned to reclaim. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Final Rule projected that 20 percent of the service demand would be met with reclaimed R-22. But based on the amount of reclaimed R-22 reported to the EPA over the last several years, we continue to be short of that number.
In the past, processing the recovered gas was regarded as a possible cost for the contractor versus today’s view of the gas as an asset. The “it costs me too much” reason not to recover and return refrigerant from a system is no longer valid. The recovered gas is yet another way for the contractor or system owner to generate revenue. However, it’s important to follow best practices when recovering refrigerant to be able to financially benefit.