Regulation (EU) 517/2014 on fluorinated greenhouse gases introdcued requirements for the control of certain fluorinated greenhouse gases. The Regulation has certain requirements that have come into force this month as follows.

Leak Testing
Equipment that contains less than 3 kg of fluorinated greenhouse gases or hermetically sealed equipment, which is labelled accordingly and contains less than 6 kg of fluorinated greenhouse gases will need to be leak tested. There was previous derogation in place exempting these units from the leak test requirement.

Leakage Detection Systems
Operators of stationary equipment containing fluorinated greenhouse gases in quantities of 500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent or more where previously required to ensure that the equipment is provided with a leakage detection system which alerts the operator or a service company of any leakage.

From January this year this requirement has been extended to include operators of:
 - refrigeration units of refrigerated trucks and trailers;
 - electrical switchgear;
 - organic Rankine cycles.
containing fluorinated greenhouse gases in quantities of 500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent or more and installed from 1 January 2017.

Labelling
Products and equipment that contain, or whose functioning relies upon, fluorinated greenhouse gases shall not be placed on the market unless they are labelled. From January 2017, the quantity expressed in weight and in CO2 equivalent of fluorinated greenhouse gases contained in the product or equipment, or the quantity of fluorinated greenhouse gases for which the equipment is designed, and the global warming potential of those gases must also appear on the label.

Pre-charging of equipment with hydrofluorocarbons
From 1 January 2017 refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment charged with hydrofluorocarbons shall not be placed on the market unless hydrofluorocarbons charged into the equipment are accounted for within the quota system referred to in Chapter IV.