Climate & Environment

Refrigerant Management

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Definition

Refrigerant management is the control of refrigerant substances across their lifecycle: transitioning to low-global-warming-potential alternatives under the Kigali Amendment, preventing leaks from cooling equipment, and recovering and destroying refrigerants at servicing and end of life rather than venting them. Because legacy refrigerants (CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs) have warming potentials hundreds to thousands of times that of CO₂, small avoided leaks have outsized climate effect.

References

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This reference provides supporting context for how “Refrigerant Management” is defined and used.

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Overview

How it is used

The concept structures technician certification rules, recovery and reclamation mandates, product bans on high-GWP refrigerants, and corporate Scope 1 fugitive-emission reporting.

Why it matters

Refrigerants are a small volume of gas with a disproportionate climate punch; managing them is one of the few near-term measures with gigatonne-scale mitigation potential.