News International wanted to safely remove more than 5000kg of refrigerant from its plant that comprised multi-vendor systems using various HFC and HCFC refrigerants.

One solution was incineration but News International was keen to explore alternatives with less environmental impact. John Ormerod of A-Gas says: “Wherever possible we encourage end users to avoid sending refrigerant for destruction. Our environmental services solution guarantees that recovered material will be properly reclaimed and by a correctly regulated and licensed waste facility.”

News International tasked A-Gas with the job of completing the decanting of refrigerants within a two week time frame. With chillers in a roof top plant room some six levels up, cranes were required, along with a selection of large and small recovery cylinders for the waste gas. Other refrigeration and air conditioning units on site required cylinders to be placed strategically around the building. A-Gas decanted some 5000kg of refrigerant which included R22, R134a, R410a, R407c and R422D.

More refrigerant was decanted than anticipated and it was of a high enough purity to reclaim much of the material. After recovering the costs of degassing the systems and transporting the cylinders, News International was presented with a cheque from A-Gas for the material it managed to re-process.