F-gases Regulation

Whilst the major greenhouse gas (GHG) is carbon dioxide (CO2), the basket of greenhouse gases controlled by the Kyoto Protocol includes, among others, the so-called F-Gases: HydroFluoroCarbons (HFCs), PerFluoroCarbons (PFCs) and Sulphur hexaFluoride (SF6).

The objective of the F-Gases II Regulation (EC) No 517/2014 is to reduce emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol, helping the EU and the Member States to meet their objectives through:

– Better containment and recovery
– Training and certification of personnel involved
– Reporting of production
– Import and export data
– Labelling of certain products and equipment containing those gases and for some applications and uses where containment and recovery is impracticable
– The prohibition of marketing and use respectively

In 1989, the European aerosol industry voluntarily ceased the use of ChloroFluoroCarbons (CFCs) which have both Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) and Global Warming Potential (GWP). Thus, it no longer contributes to the creation of the so-called ‘ozone hole’.

Additionally, the aerosol industry has decreased its greenhouse impact related to Climate Change by 99% compared to the period prior to 1989 (yet, this goes unrecognised in the Kyoto Protocol which uses 1990 as a reference year).

In 2002, FEA introduced a Code of Practice on HFC Use in Aerosols which voluntarily restricts the use of HFCs where there are no other safe, practical, economic or environmentally acceptable alternatives. The voluntary Code of Practice continues to supplement the legal provisions.

Today, the aerosol industry has primarily shifted to flammable liquefied propellant gases (hydrocarbons and dimethyl ether) for ‘general’ aerosols but still uses fluorinated propellant gases in ‘technical’ aerosols to formulate non-flammable products for safety reasons.

HFO-1234ze represents the fourth generation of fluorinated liquefied propellant gas with a very low Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 1.37 only. This is also the sole non-flammable liquefied propellant gas available to the European aerosol industry. For example, it would not be possible to formulate non-flammable aerosol dispensers for the disinsection of aircrafts to prevent the spread of illnesses like malaria, zika or chikungunya in the EU without HFO-1234ze.

At international level, the Kigali Amendment under the Montreal Protocol has been adopted to phase down the emissions of HydroFluoroCarbons (HFCs) on a global scale.