Indonesia Start-up Seals Coolants to Halt Global Warming

Recoolit tackles leaking refrigerants in Indonesia

The hidden climate threat

Refrigerants are a climate‑warming gas thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide. The environmental community has long focused on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which devastated the ozone layer in the 1970s and were phased out under the 1989 Montreal Protocol. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the replacements used today, are far less harmful to the ozone layer but remain a powerful greenhouse gas.

A crowded market of coolants

In developing nations, HFCs proliferate in air‑conditioners, refrigerators, and vehicles. Their demand is rising as rising temperatures and expanding middle classes increase cooling needs. The United Nations projects that HFCs may account for 7 %–19 % of greenhouse‑gas emissions by 2050, creating a real and growing problem.

Capturing the super‑pollutant

Many technicians in Indonesia, like Ari Sobaruddin, spend 12 hours vacuuming refrigerant from the piping of an air‑conditioner. Despite the labor‑intensive, sweaty work, the effort is essential because accidental or intentional venting is illegal yet hard to enforce. Theodor E. Recoolit trains technicians, equipping them with special vacuum machines and piping kits. The centre receives an incentive of 50,000 IDR (~$3) per kilogram of captured refrigerant.

• Technicians transport the refrigerant to a certified cement kiln or municipal incinerator.
• The refrigerant is heated above 260 °C and oxidised so that it permanently degrades into non‑greenhouse compounds.
• Recycling or re‑use of the gas is avoided to guarantee that it never re‑enters the atmosphere.

Monetising the destruction

Recoolit sells calibrated carbon credits based on the quantity of refrigerant destroyed, priced at $75 per unit. To ensure credibility, the company uses a methodology devised by the Carbon Containment Lab of Yale, and the refrigerant batches are analysed in the only qualified laboratory in Malaysia. The destruction facilities undergo a “trial burn test” to confirm the gas is fully broken down.

These credits are sold directly to buyers interested in reducing their carbon footprint. Recoolit keeps the purchase price below the market rate for coolants to discourage new production of refrigerant gases.

Corporate backing

A significant partnership has come from Google, which announced support for Recoolit and a second company to remove emissions equivalent to one million tonnes of carbon dioxide. The collaboration is expected to scale the operation beyond Indonesia and align corporate sustainability goals with real‑world climate action.

The imperative to act

While some argue that government regulation should enforce refrigerant control, Recoolit fills a critical gap, targeting a sector that would otherwise be neglected. Associate Professor Robyn Schofield from the University of Melbourne states, “The need for refrigerant capture is significant. It’s an effective climate action, and we would do well to expand it.”