We smuggle cigarettes. We smuggle booze. But did you know that many danes also smuggles refrigerant to car home from abroad?
Samples from the environmental protection Agency shows that many car owners smuggle an illegal way across the border to put in the car’s air conditioner.
And it is a big problem.
not enough that the refrigerant R134a is prohibited for private individuals to introduce across the EU.
It is also prohibited for people without special training and authorization to work with the substance, because improper handling can destroy the car.
the Worst, however, is that the product is extremely harmful to the climate.
Klimaeffekten by deriving the content of R134a in an average air conditioning is equivalent to emit 1,000 kg CO2 the amount of CO2 you would emit by driving back and forth between Copenhagen and Barcelona two times in a ordinary car, writes the environmental protection Agency in a press release.
In a number of controls have the agency seized 67 illegal non-refillable containers with R134a.
the Development of concern funktionsleder in the environmental protection Agency Elisabeth Paludan.
“there is evidence to suggest that the smuggling from other markets outside the EU increased as a consequence of the strict european rules, and a majority of the confiscated non-refillable containers are also purchased over the internet from countries outside of the EU. It is a serious problem that we find so many violations, and we fear that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg,” she says.
Why would the environmental protection Agency now start a campaign to make people aware of how problematic it is to introduce the product illegally.
‘It is not without risk even to import and use illegal refrigerant. In the worst case, the wrong volumes make the facility ineffective, or cause damage to the vital parts, often with large economic costs. Therefore recommend the FDM, that only trained professionals with the authority and knowledge to kølemiddelsteknik, making the repair and servicing of air conditioners. We are pleased that the environmental protection Agency are now launching a campaign that puts the focus on the illegal refrigerant,’ says the head of the FDM’s technical advice Lone Otto in a press release.
