The main objective of this operation, initiated at the request of the regional prefect, was to ensure that industrial and commercial sites using fluorinated gases in their refrigeration equipment comply with current regulations. These fluids, used for cooling, have a high global warming potential when released into the atmosphere.
Inspections covered various establishments such as food manufacturing and processing industries, large retail stores, data centers, and fresh produce logistics platforms. Environmental inspectors verified administrative regularity, the frequency of checks by accredited bodies, the maintenance of equipment logs, compliance with leak repair deadlines, the presence of permanent leak detectors, the certification of external operators, and the use of certain refrigerants.
The checks revealed regulatory non-compliance in 85% of the inspected sites. The most frequent irregularities concerned the administrative status of the sites, the absence of independent external checks, the management of leaks (identification and repair delays), and the conformity of equipment sealing marks.
Given the seriousness of the non-compliance and the associated environmental stakes, 32 sites, representing 10% of the inspected establishments, were subject to prefectural orders for compliance. This campaign, accounting for about 10% of the annual inspections by the classified installations inspectorate in the region, highlights significant room for improvement in the management of fluorinated greenhouse gases.
