Hi everyone, and welcome to the MACS Podcast, presented by the Mobile Air Climate Systems Association (MACS). We're glad you're here!
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Welcome to the fourth episode of the MACS Podcast! Hosted by Steve Schaeber, MACS technical editor & manager of service training, and Peter Coll, MACS president & coo.
MACS Podcast Episode 4: Recycle vs Reclaim (hosted by Peter Coll & Steve Schaeber)
In our fourth episode, Peter and Steve discuss Recycle vs Reclaim, which has become an important topic of discussion for our subsector of the air conditioning industry.
For more than 30 years, shops and technicians who service mobile A/C systems have been using EPA-certified RRR machines (recover, recycle and recharge equipment) to properly recover refrigerants from vehicle A/C systems, rather than release the refrigerant to the atmosphere. These machines are required to be used under the US Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, and have played a major role in protecting the Ozone Layer. They have also helped to avoid countless emissions of HFCs and other CO2 and CO2-equivalent emissions from the mobile sector, by allowing shops to efficiently and effectively recover and recycle refrigerants (such as R-12, CFC-12, R-134a, HFC-134a and R-1234yf, HFO-1234yf) on-site at the shop level. However, there are provisions of the US AIM Act of 2020 which would not allow shops to recycle refrigerant on-site, instead requiring refrigerant to be reclaimed.
You may be wondering, what's the difference? Isn't "recovery" and "reclaim" basically the same thing? No.
"Recovery" is a process which is performed through the use of either a Recovery-Only machine (such as an SAE J2851 machine) or through the use of an RRR machine (such as an SAE J2788, J2843 or J3030 machine). The "recovery" procedure simply removes refrigerant from an A/C system and puts it into a "recovery cylinder" for storage.
"Recycling" is a process which is performed through the use of an RRR machine (such as an SAE J2788, J2843 or J3030 machine), whereby refrigerant is "recycled" in the machine using filters, for eventual re-use in a mobile A/C system.
"Reclaim" however, is an industrial process which is performed at a "reclamation facility", typically by using distillation towers and other industrial processes and methods, to return the refrigerant to a near-virgin or virgin state.
The "standard" for recycling machine purity levels is SAE J2099, which states that recycled refrigerant must be 98% pure.
The "standard" for reclaimed refrigerant purity levels is AHRI 700, which states that reclaimed refrigerant must be 99.5% pure.
MACS supports RECYCLING refrigerant on-site by certified technicians, at the shop level, through the use of certified RRR equipment which meets SAE Standards. Refrigerant recycling on-site provides for the lowest environmental impact, and the lowest cost for the shop and the consumer.
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Since 1981, the Mobile Air Climate Systems Association (MACS) has been the advocate for service and repair owners, distributors, manufacturers, and educators making their living in the total vehicle climate and thermal management industry.
Visit our website at www.macsmobileairclimate.org
Email us at [email protected]
Call us at 215-631-7020.
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Video recorded 5/24/2023
Uploaded first draft: 7/24/2023
Approved for publication: 7/24/2023
e072423 r052423 MACS Podcast Ep4 (w noise reduction).mp4
