Capacity building for technical and environmental handling and end-of-life management of refrigerants

In November 2024, the Climate and Ozone Protection Alliance (COPA) funded by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) and the International Climate Initiative (IKI) conducted practical trainings for technical and environmental handling and end-of-life management of refrigerants. The trainings took place in three African COPA member countries: Sierra Leone, Namibia, and Lesotho. The focus of these capacity building activities was the promotion and implementation of good refrigeration practices related to servicing, installation and disposal of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, with the aim of mitigating and reducing adverse environmental impacts from ODS and HFC refrigerant emissions to the atmosphere that contribute to ozone depletion and global warming.

Sierra Leone

The first training took place from 12-14.11.2024 in Freetown at the Polytechnic Kissy Campus. 30 technicians of Sierra Leones five regions were trained of which 10 were female technicians, following Sierra Leones goal to have at least 30% female participation. The training was organized in close collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency of Sierra Leone and HEAT GmbH.

Lesotho

The second Training took place in Maseru, Lesotho, from 19-21.11.2024. 30 participants from 4 districts of Lesotho came together at the Lerotholi Polytechnics in Maseru for three days of capacity building regarding the environmentally safe handling of RAC equipment during recovery, reclamation and end-of-life. The training was organized with the support of the National Ozone Unit, Mr. Ntsatsi Mathatela of Lesotho.

Namibia

The last Training took from 25-28.11.2024 place in the Windhoek Vocational Training Centre (WVTC), in Namibia. 28 motivated technicians came from different regions of Namibia to learn best practices in the end of life refrigerant management thought by the senior instructor on Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration of WVTC. The training was organized in close collaboration with the National Ozone Unit of the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and SME development.

Pictures (from left to right): Participants of the Training in Namibia, Sierra Leone and Lesotho.