Romania has contributed to the illegal introduction on the European market of quantities of refrigerant gases (HFCs, hydrofluorocarbons) equivalent to 16.3 million tons of carbon dioxide.

In the top of European countries that have registered increased imports of HFC, Romania ranks fourth, after Austria, Latvia and Malta and the value of imports is 16% above the legally allowed quota starting with 2018, according to a report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) quoted by EMG Invest and Agerpres.

In Romania, out of the almost 1,166 companies active in the cold field, less than 100 have applied for and use the import quota and the authorization quota for the import of preloaded equipment.

The latest statistics suggest that the black market supplied up to 34 million tonnes of HFC equivalent in 2018, and the trend goes upwards, with the tightening of the EU quota that came into force in January 2021, according to EMG Invest and cursdeguvernare.ro.

“The HFC black market has devastating consequences for businesses, individuals and the environment. In addition to supporting criminal activity, any company involved is exposed to serious safety risks, as no one can guarantee the quality of illegally imported cylinders or their contents. Research shows that 83% of those who form the value chain of refrigerants know about this illegal trade, and 72% have received disposable cylinders, which are banned in Europe,” said Amalia Păvălucă, CEO and founder of EMG Invest.