A new and innovative disposal service from A-Gas for waste refrigerant oil is proving popular with engineers.

The company reports a good response from wholesalers to the new service which was launched last year after contractors asked for a more efficient and environmentally friendly way of disposing of waste oil.

This off the shelf service allows engineers to recover refrigerant contaminated oil in containers, safely and securely, ensuring environmental compliance. This means that the old oil is disposed of responsibly through a strictly monitored waste management programme at licensed premises and in doing so removes the burden from the contractor, saves time and minimises cost.

Operations director Rob Parker said: “We are very pleased with the response from engineers. Disposing of waste oil has always been a tricky task for engineers and some have found it a challenge to comply with the correct environmental regulations to the letter of the law. We’ve seen strong growth for this new service because customers understand that this simple offering ensures oil is disposed of responsibly. There’s been a lot of interest surrounding it and we are pleased to offer a solution to a known industry problem.”

Ten litre containers are available to engineers from A-Gas wholesalers. Each container has a venting cap to ensure the refrigerant pressure absorbed in the oil does not cause the plastic to expand. All the engineer has to do is to return the container to the wholesaler with the recovered oil and complete the Hazardous Consignment note.

A-Gas sends the waste oil to its approved waste disposal partner and where possible it is recovered for other uses or energy recovery – rather than waste incineration. A-Gas reminds engineers that disposing of waste refrigerant oil through normal waste oil recycling practices is in breach of the Hazardous Waste Regulations due to the refrigerant gas present.