During the 30th Montreal conference of parties held in Ecuador, EIA released a report entitled "tip of the iceberg: the impact of illegal CFC refrigerant production and use", which introduced the illegal trade in HFCs in Europe, and speculated that the illegal trade in ODS substances, which have been completely banned, was still worldwide.
According to the report, a large number of known cases of ODS smuggling involve the use of disposable cylinders, which are conveniently discarded to facilitate illegal smuggling.
Disposable cylinders have been banned in Europe since 2007, as have Canada, India and Australia. Disposable refrigerant cylinders are still widely used in other parts of the world, and the European market has recently been flooded with disposable cylinders containing illegal HFCs, the EIA said.
In addition to dealing with additional waste from disposable cylinders, EIA notes that cylinders are cut or punctured prior to the scrap process, so residual refrigerants are released into the atmosphere in most cases. If the cylinder does not enter the normal scrap process, the residual refrigerant will remain until the cylinder is decomposed and eventually discharged. Residual refrigerant vapor is equivalent to about 3 percent of the refrigerant cylinder's capacity, while liquid refrigerant vapor is about 5 to 8 percent, EIA said, citing a 2010RTOC assessment.
Due to f-gas cuts in Europe, soaring prices of HFC refrigerants and pressure from supply shortages, European governments and customs are unable to stop the illegal trade in disposable cylinders.
