Written-off cars should be de-gassed, insurers told
About 600,000 cars are sold each year for parts and scrap metal. Each contains an average of about 250 grams of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) 134a gas in their air-conditioning units, little of which is recovered despite a law banning its deliberate release.
Since HFC134a has about 1300 times the global warming impact of carbon dioxide, capturing the gas could save the equivalent of almost 200,000 tonnes of CO2 -equivalent in annual emissions.
Advocates of a new gas recovery technology say the two main auction firms - Manheim and Pickles - would allow cars to be de-gassed within minutes before sale but only the owners can give the all clear.
"If the insurance companies said they wanted to do it, we'd work with them to facilitate it," said Mathew McAuley, communications manager at Manheim.
Grabbing the gas before a sale is vital since buyers of the wrecks number in their thousands, making enforcement of the 1989 act banning release of HFCs and ozone-depleting refrigerants almost impossible, said Barry Isenberg, a consultant to the dismantling industry. "It's a win for the environment, it costs nothing for insurance companies, or the auction houses," said Mr Isenberg, once dubbed by US media as "the messiah of the auto recycling industry".
Greens leader Christine Milne has also written to the Insurance Council of Australia and to Amanda Rishworth, the parliamentary secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water, to urge insurers to give de-gassers access to the cars.
"I'd like to see greater compliance [of the law] by requiring written-off vehicles are de-gassed prior to auction," Senator Milne said. "That is surely faster and cheaper and avoids the need to monitor the activities of thousands of dispersed vehicle recyclers."
Campbell Fuller, spokesman for the Insurance Council, said the gas was "a commodity and forms a significant part of the value of the vehicles being sold".
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
The article says the insurance industry has been criticised for blocking recovery of potent greenhouse gases (mainly HFC134a from car air-conditioners) from hundreds of thousands of written-off vehicles sold at auction each year, even though a law bans the deliberate release of these gases.
About 600,000 cars are sold each year for parts and scrap metal, and each vehicle typically contains roughly 250 grams of HFC134a in its air-conditioning unit, most of which is currently not recovered.
HFC134a has around 1,300 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, so capturing the gas from written-off cars could cut the equivalent of almost 200,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions annually, according to the article.
The article names Manheim and Pickles as the two main auction firms. Advocates of a new gas-recovery technology say these firms could de-gas cars within minutes before sale, but de-gassing can only proceed with the vehicle owner's permission.
Industry consultants argue it is vital to grab the gas before sale because thousands of buyers buy wrecks, making enforcement of the 1989 law banning release of HFCs almost impossible. De-gassing before auction is described as faster, cheaper and easier to enforce.
The article refers to a 1989 act that bans the deliberate release of HFCs and ozone-depleting refrigerants, but notes enforcing that ban is difficult when vehicles are dispersed to many dismantlers after auction.
Greens leader Christine Milne has written to the Insurance Council of Australia and a parliamentary secretary urging insurers to give de-gassers access to vehicles and to require de-gassing prior to auction. The Insurance Council, through spokesman Campbell Fuller, has noted the gas is a commodity and forms a significant part of vehicle value.
Everyday investors may want to monitor insurer policies and auction-house practices because regulatory pressure, reputational concerns and calls for pre-auction de-gassing could affect insurers and auction firms. The article also highlights a new recovery technology and public push for compliance, which could influence operational practices in the sector.
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