São Paulo – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the government of Brazil are going to inaugurate three new centres for recovery of CFC gases in the cities of Recife, in the state of Pernambuco, Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul, and in São Paulo, capital of the state of the same name. The gases damage the ozone layer. The new units should become operational in April and will have capacity for regenerating 3,600 tonnes of gases a year.
The regenerated gases will come from refrigerators and air conditioning equipment, and the regeneration is going to allow for them to be reused. Currently, Brazil counts on two centres of this kind, with annual capacity of 2,400 tonnes. The centres are located in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and were inaugurated in 2006, according to information from the UN Website.
The process enables greater recovery of gases than conventional recycling, as it is more complete and removes a higher number of impurities. The opening of the new centres is part of the National Plan for Elimination of CFCs, carried out by the United Nations and the Brazilian government. The recovery of the gases is in keeping with the goals of the Montreal Protocol, which provides for the extinction of manufacturing and importing of CFC 12, the most harmful of CFC gases.
Refrigerators need the gas in order to function, and during equipment maintenance the gas is usually replaced. During regeneration, machines remove humidity, strange particles and oil that contaminate the used up gas. Thus, it can be reused, preventing Brazil from importing more CFC from other countries. After the regeneration, the gas is laboratory tested and made to be like unused gas.
The capitals that are going to house the new centres have been chosen because their states answer to 60% of consumption of CFC gases in the country. The plan that is being implemented by the UN and the Brazilian federal government forecasts that every state in the country should have recovery centres by 2010. The installation for the units is approximately 300,000 reals (US$ 125,433).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
