Is it R 22 or R 12?? From what I remember the original Freon was banned because your government said it thinned out the ozone layer. Now they say it does not, but it is too late. Dupont has configured their chemical plants to make what the government dictates.
Conspiracy theory was that Freon was banned because all the patents had run out and the chemical companies needed new proprietary products. Of course, that’s hurt a bit by the fact that Freon had been on the market for decades by then. But I haven’t looked at various patents that might have been involved.