Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) has announced a limit of GWP 150 for refrigerants in supermarket refrigeration and mobile air-conditioning (MAC), with the supermarket restriction coming into force July 2027 and the MAC restriction July 2028.
The new rules apply only to new refrigeration equipment and new passenger cars. The MAC limit extends to light goods vehicles and transport refrigeration units.
Also starting in July 2027, companies that dismantle centralized refrigeration systems in supermarkets, centralized industrial refrigeration systems, ACs in passenger and light goods vehicles, and refrigerated trucks must register with the NEA and follow established disposal procedures for refrigerants.
Economic footprint: Singapore had 718 supermarkets as of 2025 and 52,000 new cars were sold there that year.
- Since the requirements apply only to newly installed equipment, the impact will highly depend on the retrofit or new-build rate. Supermarket chain Sheng Siong, for example, is expected to open three new supermarkets per year over the next 10 to 15 years.
- The policy presents a market opportunity for natural refrigerant system suppliers and manufacturers, especially given the low number of natural refrigerant installations in Southeast Asia.
- As of December 2025, the region had 35 food retail and industrial sites using transcritical CO2, according to the ATMOsphere report “Refrigeration: Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration with Natural Refrigerants.” ATMOsphere is the publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com. Most of these installations are in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Paving the way: In 2022, the NEA banned the supply of new RAC equipment using high-GWP refrigerants.
- Domestic refrigerators and water-cooled chillers for large buildings were capped at 15 GWP, while residential and domestic air conditioners were capped at 750 GWP.
The bigger picture: This GWP limit aligns with standards already adopted in Europe and in other Asian countries.
- In July 2025, China introduced a regulation to ban MAC systems in new cars with a GWP of more than 150. The regulation enters into force in July 2029.
- South Korea has set a GWP limit of 150 for refrigerants in new commercial refrigeration equipment, which is expected to take effect in 2030. Before that, it will ban refrigerants used in new freezing and refrigeration chillers with a GWP of more than 1,500 starting in 2028.
