JAKARTA - Singapore has begun tightening emission rules for cooling machines. The target is not only home air conditioners or regular refrigerators, but also large refrigerators in supermarkets and new vehicle air conditioners.
Quoted from The Straits Times, Thursday, May 28, the National Environment Agency or NEA stated that the emission limit for cooling and refrigeration equipment will be expanded in the next two years.
Starting July 2027, new centralized commercial refrigeration systems, commonly used by supermarkets, must use more environmentally friendly refrigerants.
Starting July 2028, similar rules apply to air conditioning in new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles.
This rule targets hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs, gases widely used in cooling equipment. HFCs can trigger global warming hundreds to thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
Singapore sets a maximum global warming potential or GWP limit of 150. GWP is a measure of how much a gas warms the earth compared to carbon dioxide over a certain period of time.
NEA said the schedule for vehicle air conditioners was made later so that suppliers had time to adjust. Some vehicle models with low GWP refrigerants are also not widely available.
According to The Straits Times, this rule only applies to new equipment. Business actors are still allowed to use the old system until the expiration date.
Starting July 2027, more companies that dismantle refrigeration equipment will also be required to register with the NEA and follow official disposal procedures.
The companies in question include those that handle centralized commercial refrigerators in supermarkets, industrial cooling systems for cold rooms, passenger car air conditioners, light commercial vehicles, and refrigerated trucks.
NEA said the rules were drawn up after consulting suppliers, users, and recycling companies. The public was also given the opportunity to submit their opinions on September 8-19, 2025.
This step continues NEA's policy in 2022, when Singapore began limiting GWP for household air conditioners, refrigerators, and water-cooled chillers for large buildings.
A report by the United Nations Environment Program or UNEP in November 2025 estimates that emissions from rapidly growing cooling needs could increase more than threefold by 2050.
Singapore is among the cities that pledged on the sidelines of COP30 in Brazil in November 2025 to curb unsustainable cooling practices. Coolers are still needed, but the refrigerants are now starting to be restricted so as not to add to the global warming burden.
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