Recovery means removing refrigerant from a system into a cylinder. Recycling means cleaning it on site (oil and moisture removal) for reuse in the same owner's system. Reclaim means reprocessing it at a facility to new-product purity. Destruction means breaking it down in an approved plant.

Venting HFCs harms the climate. Venting hydrocarbons creates a fire risk. Recover everything except where a procedure specifically permits controlled venting of hydrocarbons outdoors.

Recover liquid first (faster), then vapour. The cylinder sits on a scale. Use a cylinder rated and labelled for the refrigerant.

Worked example — maximum safe fill of a recovery cylinder

A recovery cylinder has a water capacity of 12 L. You recover R32 with liquid density about 0.96 kg/L (typical at room temperature). Use the 80 % fill rule.

• m_max = 12 × 0.96 × 0.8 = 9.2 kg (approximately).
• If the empty cylinder (tare) weighs 9 kg, stop recovery at 18.2 kg gross on the scale.

Remember

• One refrigerant per cylinder; label it.
• Never fill beyond 80 % of liquid capacity.
• Use a recovery machine rated for the refrigerant class (A2L/A3).
• Keep records of quantities recovered.