EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Natasha Kochova of UNIDO came all the way from North
Macedonia to facilitate this workshop.
industry is hesitant to use reclaimed
refrigerants. That’s why awareness
training is so important, he said. “There
are a million excuses for why not we are
not reclaiming refrigerants, but we as an
industry need to get this going,” he said.
TRAINING AND REGISTRATION
Next up was Barney Richardson from
the South African Refrigeration and Air
Conditioning Contractors Association
(SARACCA) who gave more insight
into the training and registration of RAC
technicians.
He began by looking at the Pressure
Equipment Regulations (PER) of 2009 and
its requirements, particularly with regards
to who needs to be registered and how
the process works.
Richardson walked the audience
through the various categories of
registration and the requirements of these
to highlight the (legal) requirements for
industry technicians.
Unfortunately, despite this being
law since 2009, there is still a massive
COLD LINK AFRICA •
SEPTEMBER 2019
John Ackermann of SARDA spoke on the history of refrigerants in South Africa.
problem with companies not registering
(or not renewing the registration) of their
technicians.
COMPULSORY SPECS
Thabo Mabena of the National Regulator
for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) briefly
spoke about the product regulatory side,
giving some background about the types
of products the NRCS regulates and how.
He also gave some insight into the
safety compulsory specifications for air
conditioners and refrigerators.
ODS AND HFC REGULATIONS
Lubabalo Maweni of DEFF was up
next to talk about the OD and HFC
regulations and the management of
ODS and HFC waste.
He tackled the much-contested topic
of the proposed ban on disposa cans first,
looking at the background to this issue
and what has been done so far. Because
this issue is yet to be resolved, it has
been left out of the new ODS Regulation
update so as to not hold it up any longer.
Maweni then projected the proposed
amendments to the regulation and
went through it all and what it entails.
(There weren’t too many changes.)
He then discussed a possible outline
for the proposed HFC regulations which
will have to be drafted in future. He spoke
about the way forward, touching on the
Climate Change Bill and tackling issues
such as determining our HFC baseline,
import quotas and HFC permitting – in a
high-level discussion.
CLIMATE CHANGE BILL
Mashudu Mundalamo of DEFF then
briefly spoke about the Climate Change
Bill. He spoke about what the bill entails
and the potential effect it could have on
the sector.
The National Climate Change Bill
was published for comment last year
and the purpose of the bill is to build
an effective climate change response
and ensure the long-term, just transition
to a climate-resilient and lower-carbon
economy and society.
WRAP UP
Before Baloyi wrapped up the workshop
officially, Kochova took to the podium
again to talk about the way forward
and moving towards the practical
implementation and phase-down of
HFCs. She summarised everything that
had been mentioned over the two days
and proposed that South Africa looks
at more shared country experiences in
terms of a way forward.
Baloyi then formally concluded the
workshop before everyone broke for
lunch, ending with a few summary points
as well, highlighting the importance of
training, getting accurate data from
industry, and looking at alternative
refrigerant options. He thanked everyone
for their time and input.
There is still a lot of work to be done,
but at least a road map has been
drafted. Before breaking for lunch,
the group posed with the Zulu World
Refrigeration Day logo as it was 26 June
– the first ever World Refrigeration Day
(read more on page 32). CLA
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