The EU has classified refrigeration equipment that contain materials harmful to the ozone layer as hazardous waste as of the start of 2002. The Finnish Ekokem company has been treating retired refrigerators and freezers in a uniquely safe and energy efficient manner since late 2001.

What makes Ekokem's refrigeration equipment processing unique is the fact that CFC gas is fed directly into a high-temperature furnace. At other similar plants CFCs are first liquefied and bottled before it can be shipped to hazardous waste facilities for burning. This condensing consumes energy as CFC is cooled down with the help of liquid nitrogen.

Equipment bodies almost completely reusable

When a refrigerator or freezer enters Ekokem's refrigeration equipment recycling facility, CFC-containing liquid heat transfer agent and compressor oil are first removed. These substances are directly fed into a high-temperature furnace. After this the compressor, separable parts and possible mercury switches are removed from the refrigeration unit's body. Ekokem ships copper, aluminium, steel and plastics to Finnish industrial companies who use them as raw materials and fuel.

Approximately 200,000 pieces of refrigeration equipment are retired annually in Finland. A total of some 100,000 kg of CFC gas remains in the insulation of this equipment. The capacity of Ekokem's new facility is sufficient to treat all refrigeration equipment retired in Finland. Its main customers are the manufacturers and importers of refrigeration equipment, municipal waste management services, and environmental remediation companies.

The Finnish national waste management plan sets an 85% recycling target for electrical and electronic waste. Ekokem is able to utilise over 90 percent of refrigeration equipment materials either as raw material or as energy.

Hazardous waste made non-hazardous

Ekokem specialises in the best possible treatment of the most demanding industrial and hazardous waste in keeping with the principles of sustainable development. This means making maximum use of waste and keeping environmental emissions low.

In 2001 Ekokem treated approximately 110,000 metric tons of hazardous waste redirecting most of it back to use or burning it. Most of the hazardous waste treated came from Finland, but since the capacity utilisation of an expensive and efficient waste treatment facility must be kept high, Ekokem also imports waste. In 2001 Ekokem brought in 4,800 tons of foreign-origin hazardous waste. The company also shipped 109 tons of waste for treatment abroad and 4,000 tons of incinerator ash for foreign use.

Ekokem's shareholders are the corporate sector (38.3%), the Finnish government (34.1%) and municipalities (27.6%).

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Ekokem is able to recycle up to 90 percent of a refrigerator.