Reclamation
Reprocessing recovered refrigerant to a certified purity standard, verified by analysis, so it is equivalent to new product.
Reclamation is the top rung of the refrigerant handling ladder. Recovered refrigerant is reprocessed, not merely filtered, until it meets a defined purity specification, and meeting that specification is verified by chemical analysis. Reclaimed refrigerant is, in regulatory terms, restored: it has been brought back to a standard equivalent to new product, and its purity is documented rather than assumed. This is processing plant work, beyond the capability of ordinary service equipment.
The verification step is what separates reclamation from everything below it. Recycling improves refrigerant without certifying the result. Reclamation ends with an analytical determination that the refrigerant meets the specification, and that certification is what allows reclaimed refrigerant to reenter the market broadly. In effect, reclamation is how the industry closes the loop, turning captured charges from retired and serviced equipment back into supply.
Reclamation grows more important as refrigerant families are phased down. When new production of a refrigerant tightens, the charges already circulating in existing equipment become the future supply for servicing that equipment, and reclamation is the mechanism that makes those charges trustworthy. Exam questions usually test the definition and the purity certification, but the concept behind them is stewardship of a finite bank of refrigerant.
Related terms
| Recovery | Removing refrigerant from an appliance and storing it in an external container, without necessarily processing it. |
| Recycling | Cleaning recovered refrigerant with oil separation and filtration so it can be returned to service without meeting a purity standard. |
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