ATMOsphere, a global market accelerator of clean cooling and heating solutions and publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com, has reapproved the ATMO Approved Natural Refrigerants Label for Ceptek, a Canadian manufacturer of industrial CO2 (R744) industrial refrigeration systems. Ceptek was first approved for the label in June 2024.
“Being part of the ATMO Approved Label for a second consecutive year reflects our continued commitment to sustainable and forward-thinking refrigeration practices,” said CEO and President Mathieu Cardinal. “This recognition aligns with Ceptek’s mission to lead through innovation and environmental responsibility and reinforces our role in promoting natural refrigerants within the industry.”
The ATMO Approved label, launched in June 2022, was created to offer a global benchmark for identifying leading manufacturers of natural refrigerant systems and components. In 2024, the label’s scope expanded to include contractors and installers. In 2025, the model for the label was updated to quantify avoided TFA (trifluoroacetic acid) emissions thanks to an approved company’s use of natural refrigerants.
Committed to meeting expectations
Ceptek was founded in 2010 and is headquartered near Montreal. The company’s CO2 products include racks, heat pumps and chillers, and its products are used in food processing, cold storage and for commercial HVAC. Ceptek was acquired by RefPlus, a fellow Canadian manufacturer of commercial and light industrial refrigeration equipment also headquartered near Montreal, in 2023.
Ceptek’s customers include American OEM Copeland, and André Patenaude, Director of Business Development and Solution Strategy, said Ceptek’s CO2 products “met the design and operational specifications with excellent quality.”
“Copeland is a supplier and customer of Ceptek,” said Patenaude. “As a customer, the CO2 booster training units provided by Ceptek/RefPlus have consistently met our goals and expectations. They worked collaboratively from the design, build and commissioning stage to assure that our needs were met.”
Quantifying PFAS/TFA
A notable addition to the 2025 label criteria is the focus on eliminating PFAS, which includes TFA, a byproduct of the atmospheric degradation of many HFO and HFC refrigerants. Recent research has deemed TFA a “planetary boundary threat” due to its potential risks to human and environmental health.
“The label criteria around PFAS acknowledges what companies are doing to ensure they are PFAS-free,” said Marc Chasserot, the CEO and Founder of ATMOsphere. “ATMO Approved companies have the vision and leadership required to navigate the market today and help [organizations] move away from PFAS and global-warming synthetic alternatives.”
Best-in-class certification
The ATMOsphere label is designed to help qualified manufacturers and contractors market products and services to new customers and regions in the natural refrigerants marketplace. Certified organizations can display the label on products, marketing materials, email signatures and trade show booths, boosting their visibility and helping end users identify best-in-class suppliers.
To qualify, companies must demonstrate excellence across four pillars:
- Company vision – a commitment to natural refrigerants as a core business.
- Customer satisfaction – positive end-user testimonials confirming reliability and performance.
- Measurable impact – mitigation of CO2 and TFA emissions.
- Proactive training – investment in employee and stakeholder education.
Additional information on the 2025 label and the registration form can be found here.
Ceptek is the 12th company to be approved for the ATMO Approved label in 2025, joining RefPlus, Novum, OLAB, Nihon Netsugen Systems, Equans Kältetechnik, Refra, GTS, Fenagy, ENNS Industrial Refrigeration, Zudek and SURE Solutions.
