EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Disposa ban and HFC phase-down
put on hold (for now)
By Ilana Koegelenberg
he quarterly stakeholder meeting
took place on 6 March at the
Department of Environmental
Affairs’ (DEA) head office in Tshwane,
as per usual. The meeting room was
packed with stakeholders, particularly
from the wholesale and supply market,
who wanted to have their say in terms
of the potential banning of disposable
refrigerant canisters.
But there were many other important
issues to discuss as well, including the
ratifying of the Kigali Amendment, the
setting up of the mobile refrigerant
reclamation machines, and the training
of the informal refrigeration and air
conditioning (RAC) sector
— as government calls it.
RECLAMATION MEETING
NEW WORK PROGRAMME
This was the first meeting for 2019 and
it was chaired by Margaret Molefe,
DEA’s director: Hazardous Chemicals
Management. According to Molefe, one
of the main goals of this meeting was
to address the work programme for the
New Year and to share new ideas for the
financial year starting in April.
As mentioned, there was good
representation from industry at the
meeting, including a variety of
stakeholders, government representatives,
and associations.
The new work programme for 2019/20
was shared on the projector, highlighting
the key causes and missions of this
particular meeting for the upcoming
financial year. It also pinpointed time
frames for each activity as well as who
would be responsible for it in terms of
championing it.
This included another HCFC Phase-out
Management Plan (HPMP) roadshow, to
take place by the end of 2019.
(If) When South Africa ratifies the Kigali Amendment, we will have to phase down HFCs
according to the blue line, showing the schedule for Article 5 countries (green being for non-
Article 5 countries).
The programme also included timelines
for the:
• Mobile refrigerant reclamation
machine pilot study project (to start
June 2019);
• Amendment of the Ozone Depleting
Substances (ODS) Regulations (to be
finalised by March 2020);
• Customs and environmental inspectors
training (by end 2019);
• Training of informal servicing technicians
(400 trained by March 2020);
• Reduction of HCFC consumption by
30% of the baseline (December 2019);
• Ratifying of the Kigali Amendment
(March 2020);
• Reporting of HFC consumption (June
2019 to March 2020);
• Important meetings — locally and
internationally — concerning the
Montreal Protocol; and
The meeting was preceded by a task
team meeting (the last one) concerning
the reclamation machines donated by
the United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation (UNIDO).
The meeting was to discuss progress and
next steps. At this point, the majority of the
machines had been collected (despite
some trouble getting them to their end
destinations) and the last one was set to
find its home that coming week.
In the following week, visitors from the
Netherlands (from the company who built
the machines) would visit each of the sites
to set up the machines and commission
them. There will also be a training element
to show how to use these machines and
how to look after them.
DEA requested a progress report by May to
show how these machines are working.
Now the marketing to industry and the
community begins. The machines are here
now; we have to use them.
The task team would report back on the
meeting points during the main meeting so
the rest of the stakeholders could also be
updated as to the progress.
It was decided that there was no longer
a need to have this task team meeting in
this format.
T
During the last HCFC stakeholder meeting, government communicated that the disposa ban will not
be included in the current regulation amendment and that the development of the HFC phase-out
management plan and regulations are currently on hold.
The 6 March HCFC stakeholder meeting in progress.
28
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
•
Ad hoc activities awareness raising
(including a World Ozone Day even
for 2019).
TRAINING THE INFORMAL SECTOR
The issue of training the informal RAC
sector and how this will be done has been
on the agenda for a while, with many
still unsure of how this will actually work.
Government ambitiously has a plan of
training at least 400 informal technicians
in the next year, but there were some
questions as to what exactly would be
trained on and how to legitimise this
qualification.
To address these questions, Sifiso
Mkhonza, director qualifications design
at the Quality Council for Trades and
Occupations (QCTO), was invited to
the meeting to share a very informative
presentation to put things into context.
He first gave a brief overview of
the QCTO mandate and how they
execute it. He looked at standards
and qualifications in its current form,
touching on the sub-framework and
how they plan to elevate occupational
qualifications in future. He said that the
QCTO’s vision is to qualify a skilled and
capable workforce.
Mkhonza’s presentation then moved on
to the scope of the QCTO’s work, showing
how it involves all sectors of the economy
and how they interface with industry and
the SETAs. “Qualifications are industry-
driven,” he explained.
After setting the scene and giving the
background as to how the qualifications
work, he identified where to link the
proposed skills programme for the informal
RAC sector and how to frame it within the
existing framework. “We want to make sure
there is a progression pathway created for
the learners,” he said.
COLD LINK AFRICA • May 2019