Vietnam developing best-practice HFC lifecycle management systems

The Government of Vietnam has been steadily working towards meeting its commitments to the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer by committing to phasing out the use of HFCs by 80% by 2045 – equivalent to 2.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. If fully supported the Kigali Amendment will avoid up to 0.4°C of global warming this century while continuing to protect the ozone layer.

The phase out of HFCs does not however solve the problem of existing HFCs in circulation at different stages of their lifecycle. Used equipment containing HFCs is often disposed of inadequately by dumping onto poorer country markets or in regular landfill or recycling, without properly processing the remaining HFCs, which eventually enter the atmosphere.

In 2022 the government of Vietnam introduced new regulations mandating user responsibility for the proper processing of HFCs in banks to prevent them released into the atmosphere. Article 24 Decree No. O6 on Mitigation of GHG Emissions and Protection of Ozone Layer. places registration and reporting requirements on organisations manufacturing, exporting, importing, and taking part in the disposal of controlled substances. The law also increases the requirements for technical training of technicians working with controlled substances such as HFCs.

 

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This means that cooling equipment importers and users will be obliged to register their equipment, avoid leakage and also recover and destroy HFCs and other ozone damaging substances. The government of Vietnam now seeks to strengthen its regulatory system for the cooling sector by introducing an electronic system to register refrigerant users and track the domestic flow of refrigerants with CCAC support. 

Registration is crucial in the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of HFC user’s obligations under Vietnam’s environmental laws mandating the safe processing of used cooling equipment.  MRV systems are also important for supporting the emergence of value chains for private sector investment in adequate HFC disposal facilities. While some private companies already track their HFCs, they need to connect their data systems to government platforms.

In developed countries, proper implementation of user-responsibility systems has led to the emergence of circular economy networks for the re-use of valuable metals and other materials used in cooling equipment. Examples include systems which tax the importer, while others require the consumer buy coupons to dispose of the old equipment properly.

 

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Vietnam’s process for developing electronic MRV systems has benefitted from long-standing cooperation with the Government of Japan, which has modelled user-responsibility systems for HFC reduction, resulting in a 44% recovery rate for used refrigerants in 2022 – one of the highest rates in the world. “Vietnam is able to leapfrog many years of paper-based systems and different models trialed globally in places such as Australia and Japan,” said Kato Makoto, from Japan’s Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center, Japan and the Initiative on Fluorocarbons Life Cycle Management (IFL). 

According to the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, without a robust lifecycle refrigerant management regime, approximately 90 billion metric tons of CO2-equivalent of ozone-depleting and HFC refrigerants will be released by the end of this century. This includes refrigerant already in use today, and refrigerant expected to be produced through 2100 under the current phasedown schedule of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. IGSD have identified that thoroughly implemented Lifecycle Refrigerant Management schemes could prevent fluorocarbon emissions equal to nearly three full years of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions today.

Vietnam’s work on the cooling sector includes its membership of the Initiative on Fluorocarbons Lifecycle management (IFL), which forms part of the Vietnam-Japan Cooperation Plan Toward Carbon Neutrality by 2050. The IFL supports developing countries in a range of areas, including:

•    Climate change mitigation and transparency
•    Legislation and policy development
•    Capacity development
•    Investment in HFC destruction infrastructure