The Refrigerant Compliance Glossary

Containers must display the refrigerant’s common name, chemical name, or ASHRAE designation, with blend component percentages where applicable, on a durable, visible, weather-resistant label.

A DOT-specification cylinder built to be emptied, requalified, and refilled — used both for virgin refrigerant supply and for recovery. Requalification is required on a set interval and the cylinder carries a stamped test date.

A refillable, DOT-rated cylinder used to hold refrigerant removed from a system, distinguished by its gray-and-yellow marking. It must never be filled beyond 80% of capacity by weight.

A single-use refrigerant container not designed for refilling. As of January 1, 2028, used ones must be sent to a reclaimer, fire suppressant recycler, or final processor able to remove the heel, or evacuated by a certified technician first.

The refrigerant remaining in a cylinder after it appears empty, typically a few percent of capacity. It is refrigerant, and discarding the cylinder releases it.

The industry purity specification for fluorocarbon refrigerants, defining allowable moisture, acid, non-condensables, and other contaminants. EPA requires reclaimed refrigerant to meet it.

Refrigerant cleaned in the field with oil separation and filter-drier passes, reducing contaminants but not verified to virgin purity. Reclaimed refrigerant, by contrast, is processed off site to AHRI 700 and batch-tested.

Used refrigerant reprocessed to virgin purity specification (AHRI 700) by an EPA-certified reclaimer, with every batch verified analytically. Reclaimed refrigerant sold for servicing may contain no more than 15% virgin regulated substance as of January 1, 2026.

Newly produced or imported refrigerant that has never been used. Its supply is what the AIM Act phasedown restricts.

Propane used as a refrigerant, with a GWP of about 3 (AR4, 100-year) and ASHRAE class A3 (higher flammability). Common in self-contained retail refrigeration cases, with an EPA venting exemption added in 2024 for retail food refrigeration.