The EU F-gas Regulation (517/2014, tightened in 2024 by 2024/573) reduces the quantity of HFCs placed on the market through a quota system (5% of 2015 levels by 2030), bans refrigerants with a GWP above 2,500 in new commercial refrigeration systems, restricts new systems with refrigerants above GWP 150 at certain capacities from 2025, and limits the use of virgin gas for servicing. In Turkey the "Regulation on Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases" (2018, with its updates) follows the same framework: registration, labelling, certified personnel and leak checks.
The concrete consequences for a business owner: in systems containing a charge of 5 tonnes CO₂e or more (only 1.3 kg with R404A!) at least one leak check a year, every six months above 50 tonnes, every three months above 500 tonnes; keeping records of checks and charges; having refrigerant work done by certified technicians; and the rising price and availability problems of gases such as R404A.
In new investment the right strategy is to stay ahead of the regulation: in medium and large systems, increasingly low-GWP A2L blends such as R454C and R455A, CO₂ and R290 instead of R449A/R448A; in small appliances R290. If you want to work out the leak check frequency for your own system, simply multiply the refrigerant’s GWP by the charge quantity; our refrigerant chart gives the GWP values.