EIA calls for urgent actions under Montreal Protocol

November 26, 2018

On the eve of the 30th Montreal Protocol meeting in Ecuador, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has called for the establishment of a taskforce to examine the size of current and future banks of CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs and introduce a worldwide ban on non-refillable refrigerant cylinders.

Its report – Tip of the Iceberg: Implications of Illegal CFC Production and Use – includes independent laboratory tests of polyurethane (PU) foam samples – provided by Chinese enterprises – that confirm the presence of CFC-11 as a blowing agent and cites the illegal trade in CFCs in Europe, where they are, supposedly, banned, as well as continued ODS illegal trade worldwide.

Below are the most important items of the EIA’s position.

Disposable cylinders

Non-refillable refrigerant cylinders are the containers of choice for refrigerant smugglers.

“The vast majority of known ODS smuggling cases are facilitated by the use of disposable cylinders (sometimes referred to a “non-refillable containers”), as their disposable nature means they can be freely traded,” the report states.

In addition to the ban in the EU, which entered into force in 2007, these cylinders are also banned in Canada, India and Australia. “However, disposable refrigerant cylinders are still in wide use elsewhere in the world and the European market has recently been flooded with illegal HFCs in disposable cylinders,” says the EIA.

Aside from the additional waste management issues that disposable cylinders create, the EIA points out that there is always a residual quantity of refrigerant, or “heel”, being emitted to the atmosphere as they must be cut or punctured before entering the waste stream.

If the cylinders do not enter the formal waste stream the heel remains until the container degrades and is ultimately released. The EIA quotes the 2010 RTOC assessment that the vapour heel represents about 3% of refrigerant charge, and the liquid heel represents between 5 and 8%.

Instances of the illegal trade in disposable cylinders in Europe has been widely reported by the press in recent months. This heightened activity, which the European governments and customs authorities seem unable to stop, has been brought on by huge increases in HFC prices, and pressures on supply, as a result of the European F-gas phase down. There are genuine fears that unless lessons are learned from the European experience, the worldwide phase down, which kicks in next year under the Kigali Amendment, will create illegal activity on a massive scale.

CFC-11, CFC-12, etc.

EIA is urging Parties to the Montreal Protocol to address a number of remaining unanswered questions, in particular the absence of comprehensive data regarding the size of current banks of CFC-11 in PU foam and other products or equipment.

Avipsa Mahapatra, EIA US Climate Campaign Lead, said: “The new lab test results corroborate the veracity of statements made by these companies about using and trading in CFC-11 blowing agents. One of the companies claimed to be the largest supplier of PU foam polyols in the region and used CFC-11 in 90-95 per cent of their production.”

“EIA commends China for taking and publicising immediate and widespread enforcement actions. Still, it is critical that all Parties not treat illegal CFC-11 trade as an isolated enforcement issue, but rather work together to holistically address the drivers of this environmental crime.

There is a high likelihood that CFC-11 has already been exported in fully formulated polyols to other countries; it’s important to carry out targeted testing of foam products and raw materials to investigate the potential export of or import of CFC-11 in these products.”

In addition, a number of large seizures of CFC-12, another ozone-depleting substance (ODS), have occurred in several countries, while Europe is already experiencing illegal HFC trade as a result of significant supply cuts under the EU F-Gas Regulation.

What’s next?

The EIA report includes several recommendations aimed at the Montreal Protocol, including:

• Conduct a comprehensive review of the monitoring and enforcement regime of the Montreal Protocol (including all past decisions on illegal trade in ODS), in order to ensure compliance with ODS controls and prepare for new controls on HFCs.
• Ensure that the current global system of atmospheric monitoring stations and satellites is maintained and enhanced to ensure it can continue to act as an early warning system for supporting compliance with Montreal Protocol controls.
• Initiate a task force to examine current and future ODS and HFC banks, and mitigation scenarios.
• Initiate a task force to examine current and future feedstock uses and alternatives to the use of controlled substances as feedstocks.

The EIA report also had recommendations for the Parties (countries) to the Montreal protocol, including:

• Undertake national measures to ensure that CFC-containing polyols are not being imported, including legislative measures, customs inspections and testing of polyols and foams and testing of large tanks such as ISO tanks.
• Implement a fit-for-purpose licensing system which includes ODS- and HFC-containing polyols, as well as HFOs and other ODS/HFC substitutes that may be used to disguise illegal trade.
• Explore new technologies and methods available for undertaking design and implementation of modern national traceability systems that could provide end-to-end visibility of production, transport and use of controlled substances.
• Report on cases of illegal ODS trade and include information on export destinations and source countries of imports in reporting.