Supermarket switching to CO₂: what happens to the old gas?

The short answer: the old refrigerant is recovered into cylinders by an F-gas certified technician, travels with a waste stream number and consignment note to an accredited processor, and is reclaimed or destroyed there. You record how much was recovered and where it went. All of this needs to be arranged before the old system is disconnected.

Why so many chains are switching now

• •Servicing ban. Since 1 January 2025 you may not service or top up refrigeration equipment with F-gases with a GWP of 2500 or more. R404A (GWP 3922) and R507A (GWP 3985) fall under this. Reclaimed or recycled gas remains allowed until 1 January 2030. After that, it is not.
• •New systems. Since 2022, multipack centralised refrigeration systems for commercial use of 40 kW or more may not contain F-gases with a GWP of 150 or more, except in the primary circuit of a cascade system, where F-gases with a GWP below 1500 are allowed. Anyone building a new central system in practice ends up with CO₂.
• •Interim gases have an end date too. R448A, R449A and R407F are widely used as replacements. From 1 January 2032 you may not service stationary refrigeration equipment with virgin refrigerant with a GWP of 750 or more. These gases are caught by that as well.
• •Cost. The EU HFC quota steps down, with a large step in 2027. Virgin HFC becomes more expensive and harder to get. A CO₂ system sits outside that market and can supply waste heat for space heating and hot water in the store.

What happens to the old refrigerant

A supermarket system can easily hold tens to hundreds of kilos of refrigerant. The operator must make sure it is recovered by certified personnel and then recycled, reclaimed or destroyed. Deliberate release is prohibited.

Recovered refrigerant is hazardous waste. It travels with a waste stream number and a consignment note, carried by a transporter on the Dutch VIHB register. If the gas is clean enough, it is reclaimed to the quality of virgin gas. That reclaimed R404A is exactly what other supermarkets may still use to top up their existing systems until 2030. If the gas is contaminated or mixed, it goes to licensed destruction.

Checklist for the technical manager

1. 01Record per store which refrigerant is in the system and how much. The logbook is the starting point.
2. 02Agree with the installer who recovers the gas and when: before dismantling, not after.
3. 03Make sure there are enough recovery cylinders on site, kept separate per gas type. Never mix two gases in one cylinder.
4. 04Check that a waste stream number exists and the consignment note is correct before the cylinders leave.
5. 05Ask for a certificate stating kilos, gas type, CO₂ equivalent and destination, and add it to the logbook. Keep it for at least five years.
6. 06Include the recovered kilos and CO₂ equivalent in your ESG report.

What we do

With Decommissioning you get one price per store, agreed upfront. We coordinate recovery by your own certified installer or a partner, collection by a licensed carrier and all the paperwork, and make sure the gas reaches an accredited processor. Afterwards you receive a certificate stating kilos, gas type, CO₂ equivalent and destination.

If you are converting several stores over the coming years, Refrigerant estate management is often simpler: one register of every system, the relevant phase-out dates per site, planned recovery at each conversion and an annual report with the CO₂ figures.