Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu is urging Filipino consumers to avoid using household products containing hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are considered the fastest growing greenhouse gases (GHG) that contribute significantly to climate change.

HFCs are used as propellant in hair sprays, deodorants, insecticides and one of the most in-demand products in the market amid the COVID-19 pandemic—disinfectants.

“By choosing not to buy products containing HFCs, consumers will be reducing GHG levels and sending a message to companies not to continue to use the propellant in their products,” Cimatu said.

The environment chief issued the statement in support of the awareness-raising efforts of the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau, through the Philippine Ozone Desk (POD).

POD facilitates and coordinates projects and policies on the phaseout of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) pursuant to the country’s commitment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

The Kigali Amendment is an international agreement to gradually reduce the consumption and production of HFCs, which replaced the ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) previously used in air conditioners and refrigerants.

However, HFCs were later found to be powerful GHG that can be hundreds to thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide in contributing to climate change per unit of mass.

In a recent webinar organized by POD, its public awareness officer, Joylan Nephi Babia, said that while most of the aerosols available in the market today are free from ODS, some products still use the alternative HFCs which contribute to global warming.

Babia warned that HFCs have “high or very high” global warming potentials ranging from 12 to 14,800.

He cited in particular HFC 134a used as propellant in disinfectant sprays, which has a “global warming potential of 1,300 on a 100-year time scale.”

“While HFCs are not ODS, HFCs are known to aggravate global warming,” Babia said as he urged consumers to look closely at the labels of disinfectant sprays they will buy, and “as much as possible, use these products sparingly.”

He also advised consumers to use instead disinfectant sprays that use either LPG or hydrocarbons such as propane, butane and isobutane as propellant, saying these are more environment-friendly having low global warming potentials.

Since HFCs are vital alternative to CFCs, they cannot be removed from the market immediately.

HFCs were developed after the phaseout of CFCs and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) required by the Montreal Protocol in 1987.

The climate benefit of reducing HFC emissions has been widely recognized, leading to an amendment of the Montreal Protocol, known as the Kigali Amendment, calling for developed countries to start to phase down HFCs by 2019 and in developing countries to follow with a freeze between 2024 and 2028.

The Philippines is currently focused on phasing out the supposed last batch or group of ODS—the HCFCs—which phaseout schedule spans for 27 years from 2013 to 2040. #

Published: 27 October 2020
DENR to coordinate with BOC and DOJ on charges vs illegal waste shipment from US
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The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will be closely coordinating with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of Justice for the filing of appropriate criminal charges against the exporter and consignee of the illegal waste shipments from the United States that was recently intercepted at the Subic Bay Freeport.

The shipments—consisting of 30 container vans—arrived in Subic mid-October under the name VIPA Incorporated and was consigned to Bataan 2020 Inc., with business address in Baesa, Quezon City. The manifesto declared that the cargo was “American old corrugated cartons for repulping.”

But an examination of the initial five containers by the BOC and the DENR revealed “prohibited materials which were illegally imported.”

On October 22, DENR officials, Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny D. Antiporda and Undersecretary for Special Concerns Edilberto Leonardo went to Subic to inspect the shipment.

According to Antiporda, the waste materials found in the container vans were a mix of plastic, paper and some face masks which are in violation of DENR Administrative Order No. 2013-22 or the Revised Procedures and Standards for the Management of Hazardous Wastes.

“Because of our experiences in these illegal shipments, such as those from Canada and South Korea, it is now much easier for the government to monitor and control banned activities,” Antiporda said, adding that should the concerned companies be found liable, it will be their responsibility to return the wastes to their source at their own expense.

The shipment is also in violation of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, which prohibits the transboundary movement of hazardous waste and import of mixed and municipal waste.

Adopted in 1989, the convention is aimed at protecting human health and the environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes.

The BOC is set to open all 30 container vans to determine the specific cases to be filed against the exporter and the consignee. #