Status of the PFAS Restriction proposal

The presentation aims at showing what is the PFAS Restriction proposal, how it started and what is its aim, but also its potential impact on the Refrigeration, Air conditioning and Heat Pump sector.

It also includes some key takeaways on the current political context, the tentative timeline of the Restriction proposal, and how the process works at the level of the European chemicals agency. Indeed, the proposal, launched by five European countries, is to ban the manufacture, the placing on the market and the use of all 10 000 PFAS substances. Some time limited and time unlimited derogations are envisaged but do not cover the RACHP sector as a whole. In case of such a ban, the majority of fluorinated gases and all fluoropolymers would have to be replaced in products, which not possible to do without a full re-design of the equipment and components. This proposal is motivated by concerns for the environment and human health.

The scientific committees reviewing currently over five thousand comments rely on scientific data but also on the precautionary principle. They are now looking at both the risk aspect (RAC committee) and socio-economic impact (SEAC).