SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China will take action to control emissions of HFC-23, a potent greenhouse gas created during the production of refrigerants, the environment ministry said on Saturday.
Beijing is facing pressure to phase out HFC-23 in its obligations under the Kigali Amendment of the Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting substances, which took effect in China this month.
Also known as trifluoromethane, HFC-23 is one of 18 types of hydrofluorocarbons to be gradually banned under the measure. It is a by-product of HCFC-22, a refrigerant widely produced in China, although illegal in Europe.
An official of the Ministry of Ecology and Environmental Protection said on its website that China’s 19 makers of HCFC-22 must install approved HFC-23 disposal technologies and submit annual emissions data to the United Nations.
They will also be encouraged to capture and use HFC-23 as a raw material, to keep it out of the atmosphere, the official was quoted as saying.
(Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
