RAC Industry Sizzles for World Refrigeration Day

On June 24, ARC Field Officers were onsite at various Kirby branches across Australia serving up free sausages and drinks for RAC technicians in celebration of World Refrigeration Day (WRD), an annual event aimed at raising the profile of the important contribution that refrigeration and air conditioning makes globally across vital aspects of modern life.

The ARC is proud to be a 2021 WRD Ally and by partnering with Kirby, was able to show their support and gratitude to the men and women of the RAC industry around Australia for being the lifeblood of the industry and helping reduce emissions.

ARC Field Officers were also on hand to answer questions related to the ARCTick scheme and hand out a variety of free educational and promotional materials to attendees.

Further information on World Refrigeration Day, celebrated on June 26 can be found at https://worldrefrigerationday.org/

China Accepts Kigali Amendment

China has officially accepted the Kigali Amendment to phase down HFC refrigerants. Under the agreement, China will reduce HFC use by 80% by 2045.

China is the world’s largest producer of HFCs. It originally pledged to implement the phase down of HFC production and consumption under the Kigali Amendment during joint meetings with the US on April 16.

New Victorian Law for End-of-life Vehicles

From July 1 2021, new Victorian environmental laws will be rolled out meaning that end-of-life vehicles will be considered as an industrial waste and must be disposed of at authorised locations.

The ARC has been working with the 'Sale of Salvage Stock' Industry Stakeholder Committee together with the Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce (VACC).The committee has been reviewing restricting access to insurance owned salvage vehicles by unlicensed businesses and individuals.

Unlicensed vehicle recycling and rebirthing criminal activities impact negatively upon the automotive industry, environment and wider community. Recently, there has been public reports of consumer detriment as a result of dealing with individuals who retail repairable written-off vehicles or rebirth vehicles- the practice of putting parts of one car, often a wrecked vehicle, into a stolen vehicle to disguise and resell it for a profit.

ARC's involvement recognises the RAC Industry's important function in the automotive end-of-life sector with the reclaim of environmentally damaging refrigerants.

It is imperative to ensure that salvaged vehicles are used for legitimate purposes and the cooperation between the VACC, ARC and entire automotive supply chain will be vital in identifying best practice strategies and producing a whole industry solution.

Potential Ban On Small AC Units Using High GWP

The Ozone and Climate Protection Section of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) is seeking views on potential restrictions on the import and manufacture of small air conditioning units that use high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants. 

An import and manufacture ban on small air conditioners up to 2.6 kg refrigerant charge using a refrigerant with a GWP over 750 has been proposed. This would effectively ban the import and manufacture of small AC using the refrigerant R410A which has a GWP of 2,088.

This GWP based limitation on import and manufacture of small AC is being considered in efforts to support the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phase-down which began in 2018. 

The Department is inviting comments on this proposal until 26 July 2021. Comments can be emailed to ozone@awe.gov.au.

Security of Payment Bill passes Parliament (WA)

The Western Australian Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Bill 2021 has passed through Parliament. This Bill is aimed at improving the security of payment across the WA building and construction industry. An additional $6.9 million has also been allocated for implementation, training and compliance.

The Bill gives contractors a right to claim minimum monthly progress payments to ensure subcontractors are not left with large outstanding invoices. It also delivers an effective, rapid dispute resolution process to speed up the receipt of outstanding payments.

These measures improve the likelihood that, in the event of an upstream insolvency, contractors will have already been paid, as well as provide a strong dispute resolution process.

The regulator will have the power to remove registered building contractors with a history of ripping off subcontractors or engage in 'phoenixing' from the industry.

The introduction of this legislation aligns with a number of other States which already have similar legislation in place.

Call for Industry Census Recognition

The Australian HVAC&R industry employs approximately 300,000 people, yet The Australian Bureau of Statistics does not provide statistics specifically on the industry. This is because it is not listed as its own standard industrial classification.

ARC is supporting one of its member organisations, AIRAH in urging members of the industry to make a statement by highlighting this vital sector of our economy in the Australian census to be held on 10 August.

In the field that records industry of employment, AIRAH is asking all of those working in the sector to classify themselves as HVAC&R.

Learn more here.

Last Chance for $10 Per Kg Refrigerant Rebate

You have until June 30 to take advantage of Refrigerant Reclaim Australia's (RRA) tripled "Gas Seeker" rebate for recovered ozone-depleting and synthetic greenhouse gas refrigerant.

More information about Gas Seeker is available at refrigerantreclaim.com.au