Metal Prices Make Recycling Rules Redundant

October 27, 2011

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Landfilling HVAC Equipment Defies Economic Logic

By Barbara Carss

Canadian and American HVACR industry associations have jointly asked for an exemption from British Columbia’s Recycling Regulation, which would otherwise compel manufacturers, distributors and retailers to set up a product stewardship program by July 2012. The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) and the U.S.-based Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) argue that market demand for scrap metal and the cumbersome logistics of decommissioning large equipment already keep their industry’s products out of landfill.

“You don’t go down to the basement, pick up your furnace and stick it out at the curb,” quips Warren Heeley, President of HRAI. “It just doesn’t happen.”

Industry advocates point to examples in other jurisdictions, such as California and the European Union, where equipment that is wired, piped or otherwise affixed in the building structure is classified differently from so-called plug-and-play appliances that are much easier to casually discard.

B.C.’s Regulation addresses five broad categories of products, establishing criteria and deadlines for collection, handling and consumer awareness/information programs for: beverage containers; packaging and printed paper; tires; hazardous materials; and electronic and electrical products. Requirements for stewardship programs are already in force for a range of smaller appliances, tools and equipment, while the July 1, 2012 deadline is meant to capture more than 30 additional electronic and electrical items ranging from large household appliances to building and gardening tools to slot machines and automated teller machines.

HRAI and AHRI maintain that the Recycling Regulation’s requirement for collection facilities would be a redundant investment for their members because contractors do not leave HVAC equipment behind for end-users to dispose of. The associations have asked for exemptions for five items: large cooling appliances; radiators; large air treatment appliances; large fans and exhaust ventilation equipment; and monitoring and control instruments.

Results from an HRAI survey in the spring of 2008 found that 100% of respondents transported decommissioned equipment away from their jobsites and 94% took it to a recycling facility or a scrap dealer. HRAI further presses the message to its membership through its Responsible Equipment Management program, which has been gaining momentum since it was introduced in 2006, while commodity prices have made it increasingly lucrative to recover components from obsolete systems.

Notably, the price of copper has jumped from about $1.50 [US] per pound in January 2009 to more than $4 [US] per pound currently. Aluminum has climbed from about 70 cents [US] to $1.10 [US} per pound in the same period.

“The metal content, alone, is of such value that these things are not thrown into landfill,” Heeley says. “Refrigeration systems, as an example, contain a high content of copper tubing to contain the refrigerant, and it’s worth a lot of money.”

Ontario’s similar efforts to impose stewardship programs for various hazardous wastes suffered some setbacks last year when consumers reacted angrily to environmental levies added to the price of the targeted products.

Perhaps the July 1, 2010 launch date – the same day Ontarians began paying the harmonized sales tax (HST) – fueled some of the disgruntlement, leading the provincial government to cancel the program just three weeks later.

“Ontario attempted to go in the same direction that B.C. is taking and that blew up into the eco-fee fiasco, but we recognize that they want to keep everything they can out of landfill and that’s the overarching issue that each of the Provinces is wrestling with right now,” Heeley observes. “We’re not trying to skirt our environmental responsibility at all.”

In addition to its voluntary Responsible Equipment Management program for members, HRAI coordinates Refrigerant Management Canada, the not-for-profit industry-led stewardship program for safe collection and disposal of ozone-depleting refrigerants containing CFCs or HCFCs. It also offers a thermostat recovery program in compliance with provincial regulations in Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba and the pending federal prohibition of mercury-containing products. (See Canadian Property Management, May/June 2011.)

HVAC manufacturers, distributors and retailers haven’t yet contemplated passing through an environmental levy to purchasers in B.C., but an exemption from the regulation would make such consideration irrelevant.

“We’re having this discussion first, but if the government won’t bend, we have to come up with a way to meet the regulation through current practices,” Heeley says. “We hope they look at our proposal and then perhaps consult with other jurisdictions like California to see how it’s been managed there.”