Refrigerant Hunters
Hunting refrigerants.
Fighting global climate change.
ABOUT US
Refrigerant Hunters started on a bike ride between two friends in 2020, during that odd time of shut-downs and confusion surrounding the pandemic. The two of us, Craig and Dave, both formerly involved in elite sport, were looking for a new space to work in, something that would have a positive impact on our community, something our families would be proud of us doing. We’d throw out ideas on these incubator rides, tugging at each thread to see what would unravel and what held strong. A Planet Money podcast about the collection of old stock refrigerants in the US grabbed our attention as something to explore.
Building something new isn’t easy and the next few months were full of research, asking questions, learning, and finding solutions for each hurdle that presented itself. We’d inch forward so slowly some days it felt as if we hadn’t moved at all, but over time we looked back and saw enough ground had been covered to launch a business. We hit the road hunting for the most environmentally potent CFC out there, R12. Our early days of collecting were often odd, sometimes tedious, and always fulfilling. This felt like good work. We met curious and caring characters and discovered there was a niche to be filled. These gases had been sitting in basements, garages, and barns across the country for decades with no ethically viable solution for disposal. Until we came along, these old tanks were destined to fail and vent their gas into the atmosphere.
Refrigerants are all around us but seldom seem, and one of our tasks has been to let people know we’re in action. In the last two years we’ve collected over six tons of R12. We’ve also learned that there is more out there than we initially thought, and we’re staying on the hunt. Our search has taken us coast to coast and expanded into waste sites, auction houses, storage lockers, autoshops and rooftop chillers
It’s a small story in its beginnings, two friends on a bike ride, but it’s one that is growing. We’re committed to a bigger impact: a reliable and safe solution for our customers who no longer need their refrigerants, and hundreds of thousands of tons of greenhouse gases removed from the air around us.
MEET THE TEAM
DAVE SCOTT-THOMAS
CRAIG TAYLOR
DANA
WHAT WE BUY
• R-11 (CFC-11, UN 3082, Trichlorofluoromethane)
• R-12 (CFC-12, UN 1082, Dichlorodifluoromethane)
• R-13 (CFC-13, UN 1022, Chlorotrifluoromethane)
• R-113 (CFC-113, 1, 1, 2, Trichlorofluoromethane)
• R-114 (CFC-114, UN 1958, Dichlorotetrafluoromethane)
• R-115 (CFC-115, Chloropentafluoromethane)
• R-500 (UN 2026, Dichlorodifluoromethane)
• R-22* (HCFC-22, Chlorotrifluoromethane or Difluoromonochloromethane)
Cans or cylinders marked ‘solvent’ are not eligible.
*R-22 must be from a decommissioned system
OUR PURPOSE
The most potent greenhouses gases
Global climate change is one of the most important and pressing challenges faced by our planet, and refrigerants are some of the most potent greenhouse gases ever created. Older refrigerants can have global warming potentials (GWP) more than ten thousand times greater than an equivalent mass of carbon dioxide.
We’re committed to fighting climate change by hunting down and safely destroying these refrigerants before they are vented to the atmosphere.
If you live in Canada and you have old refrigerants you want to sell, get in touch.
OUR
PROCESS
HUNT
We buy eligible refrigerant gases from individuals, businesses and municipalities, instead of charging fees for handling and disposal. This provides an incentive for owners of old refrigerant stock to properly dispose of their material.
COLLECT
We transfer the refrigerant from aging containers into larger and more secure holding tanks, to avoid venting.
DESTROY
We incinerate the refrigerant at an approved facility, certified to destroy at least 99.99% of the material. This generates carbon offset credits, which fund our ongoing work.
OUR GOAL
One Million Tonnes CO2e
In order to avoid the worst effects of climate change, the world must drawdown to 50% of current CO2 emissions by 2030, and zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
Refrigerant management and destruction has been identified by Project Drawdown as one of the most effective and important strategies to achieve these goals.
Our goal at Refrigerant Hunters is to mitigate the CO2 equivalent (CO2e) of 1 million tonnes of CO2.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Refridgerant Hunters
Can you tell me more?
We buy old refrigerants from across Canada. We’re based in Guelph, Ontario, and we are primarily interested in the older Class 1 CFC refrigerants like R12, R11, R500, R502. We make in-person pickups across southern Ontario, and we organize and pay for shipping from everywhere else in Canada. We are ODP licensed, and we pay via cash or e-transfer.
How does this work if I have R12 to sell?
If you have R12 to sell, send us a picture of the tank on a bathroom scale, without the box or crate, clearly showing the gross weight. We’ll be able to estimate the weight of the R12, and we’ll make you an offer. If you are in southern Ontario, we’ll schedule a pickup, and bring cash. If you’re anywhere else in Canada, we’ll organize shipping, at our expense, and email you a shipping label. You box up the tank, tape the label to the box, and leave the box outside your front door on pick-up day. We send your payment via e-transfer, before it leaves your possession. We’re ODP licensed, and we can provide a purchase order with all details of the transaction for your records.
Do you buy R22 or other refrigerants?
We only buy R22, R134a and R410a if it’s reclaimed or recovered, and in larger volumes (100lbs+). We do not buy virgin stock. Compared to the going rate for virgin gasses, our rates are much lower for recovered stock, but we do provide an option for customers who would rather sell their reclaimed gasses than be charged for disposal. If you’re selling unused/virgin R22, R134a or R410a, facebook marketplace or kijiji are good options for selling your tank. If you have R12 or any other Class 1 refrigerant like R11, R500, R502 to sell, we do offer competitive pricing regardless of whether it’s virgin or reclaimed.
What other refrigerants do you buy?
We mainly focus on the older Class 1 refrigerants (R12, R11, R500, R502, R113, R114, R115), and we don’t discriminate between virgin or reclaimed stock for those gasses.
Can I get my reclaim tank back?
Yes. If we’re making an in-person pick-up, we usually take it back to the warehouse, pump it out, and make a return trip to drop it off when we’re making other pick-ups in your area.
There’s a deposit sticker on my tank. Do you pay me for that when you take my tank?
In the majority of cases, we don’t. We’ve been unable to redeem more than 85% of the ‘deposit’ tanks we’ve collected so far, primarily because the original vendor is no longer in business. We tell customers not to expect the deposit on their tank, but we’re happy to call our wholesaler to check if your specific tank is eligible for deposit. If we’re certain we can get the deposit back on the tank, we’ll be happy to add the deposit value to the purchase price.
What do you do with the tanks once they are emptied?
We pump the refrigerant into larger reclaim tanks for safe storage. After your tank has been emptied, and pulled down to a vacuum, we recycle the steel.
Is it legal to buy or sell R12?
It is legal to buy, sell or trade R12 in Canada if the buyer has an ODP certification and if the R12 is being collected for destruction. We are ODP licensed, and all of the R12 we buy is sent for destruction at an approved facility.
JOIN THE HUNT
Get in touch
Do you have refrigerant to sell, a question to ask, or a comment for us?