BlueSeal air curtains are sponsoring this year’s International Congress of Refrigeration (ICR) on the 21st – 25th August in Paris. The event is held every four years and sees experts in refrigeration from around the world gather to discuss research, development and innovation in the refrigeration sector.

The ICR was founded in Paris in 1908 as the advent of refrigeration technology became a key part of the global supply chain and remains a global authority on refrigeration technologies and its applications.

As a recent member to join the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), Brightec welcomed the opportunity to support this flagship event for the industry. The theme of this year’s event is “towards efficient, controlled and smart refrigeration” which resonates strongly with the collective goals of policymakers, engineers and researchers in today’s refrigeration sector.

In addition to the important role that refrigeration has played in the global supply chain throughout history, the sector has been notable in recent years for its part in distributing the Covid-19 vaccine which requires strict temperature control (as with 9/10 of the top medicines sold around the world – see our article about safely transporting pharma).

However, the need for conversations around responsible refrigeration has never been so important as the industry confronts one of the biggest problems plaguing the sector; the dependence on technologies with a harmful environmental impact. Even with greener technologies becoming more readily available on the market, the cold supply chain stands as a major consumer of energy with serious environmental repercussions if left unchallenged.

Hans Opdam, founder of Brightec, says of the sponsorship, “As a company, we find ourselves much aligned with the objectives of the International Congress of Refrigeration and the IIR which seeks to highlight conversations around responsible refrigeration. We are proud of the part BlueSeal air curtains play in lowering energy use in refrigeration but recognise that there is a long road ahead of the industry in terms of changing policy and getting transporters to adopt technology that could lessen or eliminate its harmful environmental impact. These conversations are critical during a time of significant evolution for the sector”.

For more information on the 26th International Congress of Refrigeration please visit their website at www.icr2023.org.