Government to crack down on illegal CFC suppliers

The government remains in the dark about suppliers of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), who continue to defy a 2007 ban on the import of the once commonplace chemicals.

An investigation conducted by the Office of the State Minister for the Environment found that at least 300 high-rise buildings, including starred hotels and state buildings, regularly refill their air-conditioning systems with the illegal CFCs. Centrifugal chillers in 300 high-rise buildings were found to contain about 150 metric tons of CFCs.

“We also believe hundreds of cold storage units, including those in supermarkets are still using CFCs,” Sulistyowati, an assistant to deputy minister for climate, said Friday.

“We are still hunting those illegal importers and the suppliers.”

“It must be illegal CFCs, as we finished phasing out their importation in December 2007,” she said.

The investigation team also found many automotive workshops in Bali inject CFCs into cars’ air conditioning systems.