Loop by Daikin

“At Daikin, we are committed to playing an active role in solving social problems related to global warming. To this end, we are investing in innovation and developing local manufacturing capacity in Europe to deliver reliable, smart and energy-efficient heat pumps that can help us make the transition to a carbon-neutral society.”
Balázs Zuggó, Managing Director

Company name:

Daikin Hungary Kft.

Implementation year:

2020

Focus Areas:

Climate protection and climate adaptation, Circular economy

Program Objective:

Daikin has set itself the goal of becoming a carbon neutral company by 2050, supporting the European Union’s efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The Group is convinced that this can only be achieved by working together, with the cooperation of all stakeholders.
However, the increase in refrigerant use due to the rise in the number of appliances produced by the sector is raising concerns about environmental impacts, particularly climate change.

Program Measures and Commitments:

The Loop by Daikin project initiative is a joint action of Daikin Central Europe, Daikin Europe and Daikin partners to create a circular economy of refrigerants.
The basic principle of the programme is simple: under an agreement with investing customers, the used refrigerant is recovered from existing systems, restored to the same quality as the new refrigerant, with the support of a network of service and refrigerant distribution partners. Then the recovered refrigerant is used in new VRV units manufactured and sold in Europe. The programme is a great example of the circular economy in action, as it spans Daikin’s entire value chain and also gives business partners the opportunity to join. We already have customers in Hungary who have joined the programme.
The use of reclaimed refrigerant also helps to comply with the F-gas regulation, as used refrigerants are not subject to refrigerant quota reductions, thus supporting the growth of the HVAC-R sector in a sustainable way. Audit guarantees that the quality of the reclaimed refrigerant is the same as the new refrigerant. The independent verification process also ensures that the reclaimed refrigerant is only used for factory charging of Loop by Daikin branded VRV units.

Program Impact and Results:

The Loop by Daikin program started with the reuse of one of the most widely used refrigerants, R-410A, tailored to selected Daikin VRV models. Thanks to its success, the company decided to extend it to all VRV units manufactured and sold in Europe from November 2020; and to newer refrigerants (e.g. R32, R134a) and other product groups (e.g. liquid chillers). The programme currently avoids the production of 400,000 kg (3,590 tonnes of CO2 eq emissions) of new refrigerant. More than 20,000 Loop units have been sold so far, including the office building where Daikin has its headquarters, which also has Loop VRV units and is looking to expand the programme further.

Related keywords:

recycling of refrigerants