Refrigerant Gases Explained: Why a Fridge Can't Just Be Crushed

Every fridge and freezer contains refrigerant gas in a sealed circuit, and that gas has to be recovered by a licensed handler before the unit is crushed. Not as a formality — because releasing it does real, measurable atmospheric damage. This is the single reason a fridge can't be treated like any other lump of scrap metal.

How a fridge actually works

A fridge doesn't create cold. It moves heat from inside the box to outside it, using a refrigerant that cycles between liquid and gas.

The refrigerant evaporates inside the cabinet, absorbing heat as it does. The compressor pressurises it, and it condenses at the coils on the back of the unit, releasing that heat into your kitchen. Then it expands and the cycle repeats. That's why the back of a fridge is warm and why a fridge in a hot garage struggles — it has nowhere convenient to dump the heat.

The gas isn't consumed. It stays in the sealed loop for the life of the appliance, which is exactly why an old fridge still contains its full charge when you throw it out.

Three generations of refrigerant

CFCs — the ozone problem

Fridges made up to around the early 1990s typically used chlorofluorocarbons, most commonly R12. CFCs turned out to destroy stratospheric ozone, which led to the Montreal Protocol and their global phase-out. If you've got a genuinely old fridge in a garage or shed, this is likely what's in it — and it's the worst case for venting.

HFCs — the climate problem

The replacement, widely used from the 1990s, was hydrofluorocarbons — R134a in most domestic fridges of that era. HFCs don't harm ozone, which solved the original problem. But they're extremely potent greenhouse gases. R134a has a global warming potential well over a thousand times that of carbon dioxide, kilogram for kilogram.

Commercial refrigeration is worse again. Blends like R404A, common in cafe and bar display fridges, have global warming potentials in the thousands.

Australia is phasing HFCs down under the Kigali Amendment, but the units already installed keep their charge until they're disposed of — which is now.

Hydrocarbons — the current generation

Most modern domestic fridges use R600a (isobutane). Its global warming potential is negligible, which is a genuine improvement. The trade-off is that it's flammable — there's only a small amount in a domestic unit, but it's another reason a fridge shouldn't be crushed by someone who doesn't know what they're handling.

Why the age of your fridge matters

Here's the uncomfortable part: the older the fridge, the more damaging it is to vent. The unit sitting in the garage since 1998 is precisely the one most likely to hold a high-impact gas, and precisely the one most likely to be disposed of carelessly because it feels worthless.

A single old fridge vented to atmosphere can do more warming damage than the appliance ever caused running. That's the whole argument for doing this properly. More on the garage fridge.

It's not only the gas in the pipes

There's a second reservoir most people don't know about: the insulation foam in the walls and door. In older fridges, that foam was blown using the same class of gases, and it holds them for the life of the appliance.

Proper end-of-life processing recovers refrigerant from the circuit and, at well-equipped facilities, handles the foam separately too. Crushing a fridge in an open yard releases both.

What proper disposal looks like

1. The unit is collected intact — not crushed, not tipped into a compactor truck
2. A licensed handler recovers the refrigerant from the sealed system into a recovery cylinder
3. The gas is reclaimed for reuse or destroyed, depending on type and condition
4. The compressor oil is drained
5. Only then is the shell shredded, and the steel, copper and aluminium separated and recovered

That's the chain we put every fridge and freezer through. More on our process.

What this means for you

• Don't put a fridge on the kerb unbooked. Aside from being illegal dumping in most Sydney councils, an unbooked fridge may not reach a facility that degasses it.
• Don't let anyone crush it on site.
• Don't cut the pipes to "empty it" — that's exactly the release the rules exist to prevent, and with R600a it's a fire risk.
• Do ask whoever collects it what happens next. A straight answer is a good sign.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to arrange degassing myself?

No. When we collect a fridge or freezer it goes to a facility that recovers the refrigerant under licence. You don't organise anything.

Does it apply to a small bar fridge?

Yes. Size changes the amount of gas, not the requirement. More on small units.

What about my air conditioner?

Same principle — but we don't take air conditioners. Fridges and freezers only.

Can the gas be reused?

Often, yes. Recovered refrigerant can be reclaimed and reused, which is far better than destroying or venting it.

Book a fridge pickup

Collection is kerbside only. Please arrange for your items to be outside at the kerbside before pickup. Collections run Monday to Friday, 6am–4pm.

$80 for a small–medium unit, $150 for a large one, degassed under licence, metal recycled.

Book a fridge pickup — from $80 →