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Ma­­na­ge­­ment and De­­struc­­ti­on of ozone de­p­­le­­ting sub­­stan­ces in ODS banks

The excessive use of ODS and HFCs has led to the accumulation of large banks, so-called “ODS and HFC Banks” globally. Their yearly emissions are be equal to that of the carbon dioxide from more than 440 coal power plants.

Map with partner countries

Partner Countries

The global IKI-project ODS Banks provides strategies and good practice approaches for a sustainable management of ODS banks and assists the partner countries to develop their national sustainable management systems for ODS contained in old cooling equipment. The focus of the project lies on the waste management of appliances containing ODS and HFCs since this is when the most significant part of the banks’ emissions are released to the atmosphere through leaking refrigerants. The reduction of emission of ODS and HFC banks, which have a very high global warming potential, can therefore significantly contribute to the achievement of partner countries’ mitigation targets and NDCs.

To support the establishment of appropriate collection, recovery and destruction procedure in the partner countries, the project assists them to in the improvement of prevailing conditions and by transferring good practices and technology for the management and destruction of ODS banks. This includes policy advisory, technology transfer and capacity building activities, such as Training of trainers and of technicians, stakeholder workshops and the development of sustainable financial mechanisms. In addition, the project developed among other guidelines on ODS bank inventories, policies, collection systems and transboundary movements of ODS waste.

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Especially the cooperation with the partner countries Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Iran and Tunisia produced several trainings on different topics, such as manual dismantling of refrigerators and air conditioners, set-up of financial scheme in the sector, and development of ODS Banks inventory are further success stories of the project. Additionally, pilot projects included the installation of degassing and reclaim units in Colombia for the proper handling of refrigerants. 

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Banks and Emis­si­ons of CFC-11 and CFC-12

06/2020 , Publication - Technical Publication :

This study investigates the currently applied assumptions of global CFC banks models and compares it with data collected in specific countries.

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CFCs were widely used as refrigerants and foam blowing agents. During its peak consumption in the 1990s, it is estimated that up to 430 kilo tonnes of CFC (GIZ, 2018) were added to the bank annually. CFCs are ODS and their bank is defined as the amount of substance contained in appliances and other products that have not been released to the atmosphere yet1  Due to the CFC phase-out, accomplished under the Montreal Protocol within non-Article 5 (nA5) countries2 in 1996 and Article 5 (A5) countries in 2010, the CFC bank is not increasing any longer. However, the size of the CFC bank in foam products (and to a lesser extend in refrigeration and air conditioning equipment) is believed to be still considerable.

Several models estimate the remaining CFC bank on a global scale (Ashford et al., 2004) in the Assessment Reports of the Rigid and Flexible Foams Technical Option Committee (FTOC, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018; GIZ, 2018). Nevertheless, the assumptions of those models, although state of the art in terms of chemical behaviour, often disregard (lack of adequate) recycling practices, resulting in several uncertainties. Thus, the debate on the remaining CFCs in banks, and the resulting emissions, is still ongoing.

This study intends to contribute to the debate by 

  • Shedding light on individual country’s estimated remaining CFC bank and their handling.  The focus are CFC-11 and CFC-12 in building foams. 
  • Investigating the fit of model assumptions to  found practices and carrying out a sensitivity analysis on selected parameters.

This paper is part of the project ‘Management and Destruction of Existing Ozone Depleting Substances Banks’ funded by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) under its International Climate Initiative (IKI) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

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