The Union of African Associations of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Stakeholders (U-3ARC) has called for an end to the dumping of obsolete air conditioners in Africa.
Known as the Casablanca Declaration it was signed by members of U-3ARC at its general assembly last month.
U-3ARC said members strongly oppose the export by developed countries of “obsolete, unreliable and environmentally harmful equipment” to developing countries.
"It revolves around the replacement of old air conditioners containing obsolete HCFC and HFC refrigerants,” the statement said.
Environmental dumping is defined as the export of technologies that cannot legally be sold in the country of export, due to failure to meet environmental standards, safety and energy efficiency, and the export of technologies that are unusable in the country of export because the refrigerants are no longer available, due to national regulations or phase-out and phase-down control schedules under the Montreal Protocol.
In a three-point plan, the declaration calls for an end to the dumping of inefficient used cooling appliances in Africa, which compete with new efficient equipment with low GWP refrigerants, such as R32 and R290. It also calls for the introduction of the latest and best energy efficient technology.
The plan also seeks improved service to reduce leakage and avoid future high cost of HCFCs and HFC refrigerants phased out under the Montreal Protocol.
Air conditioning units sold in many of Africa’s largest countries are low efficiency units, with almost half containing ozone-depleting R22.
Established in 2020, the Union of African Associations of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Stakeholders (U-3ARC) is made up of national associations from across Africa.
It represents all 54 African nations covering 20,000 businesses and nearly 200,000 employees, according to the U-3ARC web site.