Public Consultation on Requirements for Equipment Containing Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) Refrigerants

National Environment Agency

Consultation Period: 08 Sep 2025 - 19 Sep 2025

Status: Closed

Detailed Description

Introduction

1. The National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore is seeking feedback on:

   1. Introduction of GWP limits on supply of new:

      1. Standalone commercial refrigerator (≤150g charge)

      2. Centralised commercial refrigeration systems

      3. Passenger Cars & Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs), and

   2. Mandatory on-site recovery of refrigerants recovered during the decommissioning of:

      1. Centralised commercial refrigeration systems

      2. Centralised industrial refrigeration systems for cold rooms

      3. Passenger Cars & Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs)

      4. Refrigerated Trucks

2. The consultation exercise will start on 08 September 2025 and end on 19 September 2025.

Background

3. Singapore has raised its national climate ambition to reduce emissions to around 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2030 after peaking emissions earlier.

4. HFCs are commonly used as refrigerants in RAC equipment and have high Global Warming Potential (GWP) hundreds to thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide. Over the lifespan of RAC equipment, greenhouse gas emissions occur when HFC refrigerants are emitted during the operation of the equipment (e.g. via leakages) and during the end-of-life of the equipment if the HFC refrigerants are not recovered and treated when the equipment is decommissioned.

5. In October 2022, NEA banned the sale of new household air-conditioners and refrigerators, and water-cooled chillers that use refrigerants with high GWP. Additionally, NEA mandated on-site recovery of refrigerant from decommissioned chillers and submission of records for regulated greenhouse gas works (i.e. installation, maintenance and decommissioning) on chillers, amongst other requirements. More information can be found on NEA website.

6. To support Singapore's climate commitments, NEA conducted a comprehensive study to assess the feasibility of mitigation measures for a wide range of equipment across various applications including commercial refrigeration, industrial refrigeration, mobile air-conditioning, transport refrigeration, chillers and variable refrigerant flow air-conditioners, and other HFC uses. The study examined cost-viable low GWP alternatives for Singapore and best practices adopted in key regions such as the EU, US, Australia and Japan. A wide list of possible measures were initially considered before narrowing down to the proposed measures, taking into consideration industry readiness, cost impacts to stakeholders, and stakeholders' feedback from informal industry consultations conducted in 2023 and 2024.

I. Proposed Introduction of GWP limits

7. The proposed regulations will ban the sale of new equipment and vehicles containing HFC refrigerants that do not meet the GWP limit of 150:

   1. Standalone commercial refrigerator:

      • Covers complete factory-made systems with refrigerant charge of 150g or lower and used to cool and temporarily store perishable items for commercial sale, such as beverages and food, and includes equipment such as chiller and/or freezer storage cabinets, display cabinets and counter-top refrigerators, and wine coolers

   2. Centralised commercial refrigeration systems:

      • Covers multipack compressor racks, including direct expansion systems and indirect systems, and semi-plug-in water loop systems typically used for food retail outlets such as supermarkets

   3. Passenger Cars & Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs)

      • Covers vehicle air-conditioning systems used for passenger cabin cooling

8. When this proposal is adopted, applicable equipment and vehicles will be regulated under the Environmental Protection and Management Act (EPMA) and such regulated goods will be required to:

   1. Be registered¹;

   2. Contain refrigerants that do not exceed the prescribed GWP limit of 150

II. Proposed mandatory on-site recovery of refrigerants

9. The proposed regulations will require companies to recover refrigerants with GWP of more than 15 from the following equipment during decommissioning works:

   1. Centralised commercial refrigeration systems

      • Covers multipack compressor racks, including direct expansion systems and indirect systems, and semi-plug-in water loop systems typically used for food retail outlets such as supermarkets

   2. Centralised industrial refrigeration systems for cold rooms

      • Covers centralised distributed systems

   3. Passenger Cars & Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs)

   4. Refrigerated Trucks 

10. When this proposal is adopted, companies involved in installation, maintenance or decommissioning works are to:

    1. Register with NEA as a greenhouse gas (GHG) entity.

    2. Recover refrigerants with GWP of more than 15 from regulated equipment during decommissioning works.

    3. Ensure that the refrigerants are sent to a licensed Toxic Industrial Waste Collector (TIWC) for recycling/ reclamation/ destruction

    4. Maintain and submit records of regulated GHG works (installation, maintenance or decommissioning) quarterly².

Timeline

11. The proposed requirements will be implemented on 1 April 2027. Suppliers of new regulated equipment and vehicles mentioned in paragraph 7 are given a grace period up to 31 March 2028 to clear existing stocks of equipment and vehicles containing refrigerants that do not meet the imposed GWP limit and to fulfil agreements / contracts entered before 1 April 2027.

Public Consultation

12. NEA invites members of the public to share your views on the proposed measures to be implemented in 2027. All comments received during the consultation exercise will be reviewed and may be incorporated into the final measures. Interested parties can submit their feedback at https://go.gov.sg/hfc-rac2025. The consultation exercise will end on 19 September 2025.

13. To ensure that the consultation is productive and focused, respondents are requested to observe these guidelines when providing their feedback:

    1. Identify yourself as well as the organisation you represent (if any) so that we may follow up with you to clarify any issues, if necessary

    2. Be clear and concise in your comments

    3. Focus your comments on the proposal(s) to introduce the GWP Limits and/or Mandatory on-site recovery of refrigerant

    4. As far as possible, substantiate your points with illustrations, examples, data or alternative suggestions

¹ Passenger cars and LGVs will be registered under LTA

² Regulated GHG works refer to (i) installation, maintenance and decommissioning works for centralised commercial refrigeration systems and centralised industrial refrigeration systems for cold rooms (i.e. Paras 9(a) and 9(b)) and (ii) decommissioning works for passenger cars, LGVs and refrigerated trucks (i.e. Paras 9(c) and 9(d))