With an aim to combat climate change, India has banned import of toxic chemical hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)-141b used in the production of rigid polyurethane (PU) foams by foam manufacturers from January 1, 2020.
Since HCFC-141b, greenhouse gases that damage the earth’s ozone layer, was not produced in the country, all the domestic requirements were being met through imports. However, the Union Environment Ministry issued a notification last year in December seeking ban on import of the foam manufacturing companies. With this, India has completely phased out the important ozone-depleting chemical, said an official from the Ministry.
HCFC comprises inert compounds of carbon, hydrogen, and fluorine, and it is used instead of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) as it is less destructive to the ozone layer. At present, HCFCs are used in various sectors like refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) and foam manufacturing. These sectors are directly related to urban development, agriculture through cold chain, and industrial development.
Simultaneously, the use of HCFC-141 b by foam manufacturing industry has also been closed as on 1st January 2020 under the Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Amendment Rules, 2014, said a senior official from the Union Environment Ministry.
Nearly 50 per cent of the consumption of ozone-depleting chemicals in the country was attributable to HCFC-141 b in the foam sector.
The Ministry had adopted a structured approach to engaging with foam manufacturing enterprises for providing technical and financial assistance in order to transition to non-ODS and low GWP technologies under the HCFC Phase-out Management Plan (HPMP), said the official.
Around 175 foam manufacturing enterprises have been covered under HPMP out of which, 163 enterprises are covered under stage II of HPMP. The complete phase-out of HCFC 141 b from the country in the foam sector is among the first at this scale in Article 5 parties (developing countries) under the Montreal Protocol.
The implementation of HPMP through regulatory and policy actions, implementation of technology conversion projects has removed around 7800 Metric Tonnes of HCFC 141-b from the baseline level of 2009 and 2010 of the country, he said.
The phase-out of HCFC-141b from the country has twin environmental benefits viz. assisting the healing of the stratospheric ozone layer, and towards the climate
change mitigation due to transitioning of foam manufacturing enterprises at this scale under HPMP to low global warming potential alternative technologies.