Separate sorting waste fridges unacceptable

Archiv – Although the missorting rate is just 1,6%, separate treatment of CFC containing and CFC free fridges is still harmful to the environment and must stop. An Austrian study found out that the solution is the joint processing of all types of refrigeration appliances in a single state-of-the-art recycling plant. Austria | Although the missorting rate is just 1,6%, separate treatment of CFC containing and CFC free fridges is still harmful to the environment and must stop. An Austrian study found out that the solution is the joint processing of all types of refrigeration appliances in a single state-of-the-art recycling plant. The study was part of a research project supervised by the Federal Ministry of the Environment in Vienna and was carried out at Austrian recycling company that already carries out joint processing. ’EU member states must act to prohibit the separate treatment of waste fridges and freezer appliances containing hydrocarbons (HC),’ concludes the Luxembourg-based RAL Quality Assurance Association, an international organisation which says it aims to improve fridge recycling standards
For the purposes of the study ‘€’ which was monitored by statisticians at Vienna Technical University- HC appliances were removed from the incoming waste stream and subjected to separate processing. Examination of the sorted appliances showed that 1.6 % of the appliances had been incorrectly sorted. As more than 2000 ‘€˜HC appliances’€™ were removed from the incoming waste stream and subsequently examined, the sample size was large enough to ensure that the computed missorting rate is statistically reliable. According to RAL, the sorting error of 1.6 % established by the new study provides independent and striking confirmation of earlier assumption.
A study published by Germany’s Öko-Institut in March 2007 showed that even a CFC/HC sorting error rate of 1 % would lead to unacceptably large quantities of CFCs entering the HC processing chain. As HC appliances are still typically treated in an auto shredder or other non2 encapsulated shredder, any CFC-containing appliances accidentally included in the HC appliance stream would result in the CFCs being emitted to the atmosphere ‘€’ an unnecessary and avoidable environmental hazard, the researchers conclude.