Page 16 - Climate Control News December 2018
P. 16

In Focus
Call for global ban on disposable cylinders
that haven't been officially reported to the Ozone Secretariat proving that it really is the tip of the iceberg, the report said.
For example in Southern Africa a shipment of two tonnes of cylinders was seized, labelled and packaged as HFC-134a. Analysis indicated that the actual content of the cylinders was 98% CFC. In Central Asia 900 new cylinders of CFC- 12 were seized; the cylinders did not appear to be from old stocks.
Moreover, the vast majority of ODS smug- gling is facilitated by the use of disposable cyl- inders and while they are banned in the EU, Canada, India and Australia they are still in wide use elsewhere.
“THIS ILLEGAL TRADE SHOWS THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL’S CURRENT COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT REGIME IS NOT FIT-FOR-PURPOSE."
– EIA CAMPAIGNS LEADER, CLARE PERRY.
European Union (EU) industry groups have joined forces in recent weeks and issued state- ments calling for more action to stem the tide of illegal refrigerants across Europe.
Airconditioning and Refrigeration European Association (AREA) secretary general, Olivier Janin, said authorities are ultimately responsi- ble for the proper enforcement of the F-Gas Regulation.
“We call on all actors -including EU and Na- tional competent authorities - to also play their part in enforcing stricter controls at EU borders,” Janin said. ✺
THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTIGA- TION Agency (EIA) has called on Parties to the Montreal Protocol to take decisive action against the production of illegal re- frigerants including a global ban on dis- posable refrigerant cylinders.
On the eve of the 30th Meeting of the Parties (MoP30) to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in Ecuador this month, the EIA has called for the establishment of a taskforce to examine the size of current and future of CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs.
AREA secretary general,
Olivier Janin
illegal production and use of CFC-11 is occurring in East Asia.
EIA climate campaigns leader, Clare Perry, said the scale and impact of this illegal trade shows how the Montreal Protocol’s current compli- ance and enforcement regime is not fit-for-purpose.
“There has never been a greater need to make all possible reduc- tions to greenhouse gas emissions
The recommendations are featured in a re- port entitled “Tip of the Iceberg: Implications of Illegal CFC Production and Use”.
Earlier this year the EIA released evidence showing that unexplained emissions of the ozone- destroying chemical CFC-11 in the atmosphere was the result of its illegal production and use in China. CFC-11 is a potent ozone depleting sub- stance that has been banned globally since 2010.
“Our undercover investigators obtained evi- dence from 18 different companies in 10 Chinese provinces which confirmed their use of CFC-11 as a blowing agent for the manufacture of foams to insulate buildings and appliances. CFCs, or chlorofluorocarbons, were responsible for seri- ously damaging the Earth's protective ozone lay- er,” the report said.
THE EIA has updated the report with inde- pendent laboratory tests of polyurethane (PU) foam samples confirming the presence of CFC- 11 as a blowing agent. The report indicates new
banks
in the fight against climate change; the steps the Protocol takes now will either make or break its reputation as the most successful en- vironmental treaty ever,” Perry said.
In addition to the threat to the ozone layer from CFC-11, large seizures of CFC-12, another ozone-depleting substance, have occurred in several countries and Europe is already experi- encing illegal trade in hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants as a result of significant supply cuts under the EU F-Gas Regulation.
Parties to the Montreal Protocol have in- vested heavily in creating the legislation and institutional structures necessary to imple- ment their global commitments under the Protocol over the last 30 years. However, the CFC-11 scandal demonstrates that simply putting laws in place does not ensure compli- ance. Robust enforcement is essential and must comprehensively cover the life-cycle of the chemical, product or equipment in ques- tion,” the report said.
There has been a number of incidents in 2018
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