Zusammenfassung: Die hochmobile und stark persistente Trifluoressigsäure (TFA) ist ein Abbauprodukt vieler fluorierter Kohlenwasserstoffe, die insbesondere als Kältemittel eingesetzt werden. TFA reichert sich als Trifluoracetat in steigender Konzentration in Grund- und Trinkwasser an. Da mögliche negative Folgen einer dauerhaften Exposition zunehmender Mengen an Trifluoracetat für Mensch und Umwelt nicht hinreichend bekannt sind, sollte der Einsatz TFA-bildender Kohlenwasserstoffe umgehend unterbunden werden.

Germany is obliged to report emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases annually under the UNFCCC. This includes emissions of fluorinated refrigerants when decommissioning RAC equipment. To obtain this information, data on the recovery, recycling, and disposal of fluorinated greenhouse gases is necessary, but such data are scarce. The VDKF-LEC database contains information on the recovery of fluorinated refrigerants from decommissioned RAC equipment in Germany and an extracted dataset was used to obtain real-world information for the years 2017 to 2021. Recovery rates for different fluorinated refrigerants from decommissioned commercial and industrial refrigeration as well as stationary air-conditioning equipment were derived. Furthermore, average lifetimes of equipment for the different sectors were calculated. In the analysis, a dependency of charged refrigerant and age of the unit at decommissioning could be observed. Results from the analysis of the VDKF-LEC dataset were compared with reported data under the UNFCCC for Germany and other available data sources.