  The ALICE RPCs are operated with a mixture of 89.7% $C_{2}H_{2}F_{4}$, 10%
i-$C_{4}H_{10}$ and 0.3% $SF_{6}$. $C_{2}H_{2}F_{4}$ and $SF_{6}$ are
fluorinated greenhouse gases with a high Global Warming Potential (GWP). New
European Union regulations have imposed a progressive phase-down of the
production and usage of F-gases, aiming to cut down their emission by two
thirds in 2030 with respect to 2014. Even though research activities are
excluded from these regulations, the phase-down will inevitably increase their
price and CERN is also aiming to cut down on its emissions. For these reasons
it is crucial to find a more eco-friendly gas mixture for RPCs by the time of
the LHC long shutdown 3, foreseen in 2026. Since $C_{2}H_{2}F_{4}$ is the main
contributor to the mixture GWP, an extensive R&D process has started to replace
it with tetrafluoropropene ($C_{3}H_{2}F_{4}$), due to its chemical similarity
with $C_{2}H_{2}F_{4}$ and its low GWP (around 7). Preliminary tests with
cosmic rays have shown promising results in terms of detector performance. The
next step is to study the long-term behavior of RPCs operated with these new
gas mixtures (aging studies). Since this is a subject of interest for all (and
not only) the LHC experiments, a collaboration, ECOgas@GIF++, was setup to
carry out joint studies. Among others, a small ALICE-like RPC was installed at
the Gamma Irradiation Facility at CERN, where they are exposed to a strong
radiation field, coming from a 12.5 TBq $^{137}$Cs source, which allows one to
simulate many years of operation in a relatively short time. The facility also
provides a muon beam at specific times of the year, which can be used to study
the detector performance (e.g. efficiency and cluster size) during and after
irradiation.
