Refrigerant Waste Streams at Bard College

In June 2020, Bard's Office of Sustainability  received a grant from Second Nature  to collect and properly recycle refrigerant-containing equipment through community collection drives, with the goal of mapping refrigerant management options in Dutchess and Ulster Counties.

Proper refrigerant management includes:

• Reclamation of refrigerant gases that have high global warming potential (GWP)
• Safe handling of appliance insulation foam made with high-GWP blowing agents
• Recycling of scrap metal

By September 2021, the Office of Sustainability had collected more than 100 refrigerant-containing appliances at the College's recycling yard, including refrigerators, dehumidifiers, water coolers, and air conditioning units. These units were sorted by refrigerant type so that appliances with high-GWP refrigerants were separated from those with less harmful refrigerants (e.g. R-600A).

Equipment containing low-GWP refrigerant R-600A, consisting of 65 mini-fridges, was sent in a 20 yard container with Royal Trucking to West Kingston Recycling Center. West Kingston Recycling Center does not provide documentation certifying safe gas recovery.

Equipment with high-GWP refrigerants were separated out and kept at the Bard College Recycling Yard, where Interstate Refrigerant Recycling, Inc. pumped out refrigerants into a van, which was carted back to the IRRI facility in Foxboro, MA. IRRI marked certified-empty equipment (49 appliances) with a spray of orange paint and a certification tag.

Once refrigerant gases were removed appliances, Baroni Scrap Metal, LLC picked up a container of certified empty equipment, paying to receive the resulting scrap metal.

The Office of Sustainability is also looking into services that safely reclaim insulation foam from appliances, which are produced with high-GWP blowing agents. ARCA Recycling, Inc. in Syracuse, NY, for example, accepts full appliances for safe recycling, reclaiming both refrigerant gases and insulation foam before recycling scrap metal.

• Recover gases on site to reduce risk of breaking loops when handling large loads.
• Seek certification for removal of high-GWP refrigerant gases.

West Kingston Recycling Center: charges $5 per mini fridge

Interstate Refrigerant Recovery, Inc.: charges $8 per residential unit

Baroni Scrap Metal: pays $0.06 per pound of scrap metal

Bard College paid an average of $8.02 per mini fridge containing low-GWP refrigerant R-600A, a combination of shipping charges ($196 per 20 yard container with Royal Trucking) and the $5 fee per fridge charged by West Kingston Recycling Center ($325 for 65 mini fridges).

IRRI reclaimed gases from 49 residential units, charging Bard College $8 per unit for a total cost of $392. The certified empty appliances, which totaled 3,880 pounds of material, were picked up by Baroni Scrap Metal, LLC, which paid Bard College $0.06 per pound for a total return of $232.80.

By safely removing high-GWP refrigerant gases from 26 refrigerators, 8 dehumidifiers, and 15 air conditioning units, the collection drive run by the Bard College Office of Sustainability avoided GHG emissions equivalent to 19 metric tons of carbon dioxide.