Car CFC Disposal Stymied by Recyclers

Simple economics appears to be winning out over environmental concerns in the effort to dispose of chlorofluorocarbon coolants from the air-conditioning systems of scrapped cars in Japan.

Internal documents from the Japanese Environment Ministry and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry show that only about 10 percent of the CFC recovered from car air conditioners has been destroyed since a new law went into effect last October.

To get consumers to bear part of the disposal burden, drivers who discard their cars are required to purchase tickets for the disposal of the CFC. Each ticket, available from post offices and convenience stores, costs 2,580 yen ($21.89).

Apparently, some scrap firms are reusing the CFC in older cars, rather than handing them over for disposal.

While recycling CFC is not illegal, there are concerns that gases could escape and add to the ozone destruction problem and greenhouse effect.

Although production of automotive CFC has been banned, there are still about 20 million cars in Japan that use the old CFC in their air conditioners.

One recovery firm official said his company stands to receive 1,550 yen ($13.50) for each unit of CFC sent for disposal. However, if it opts to reuse the coolant in car air conditioners, the company can reap several times that amount from drivers who are willing to pay to keep their old bangers cool.

The Japan Automobile Recycling Promotion Center has been in charge of the system for recovering and destroying automotive CFC since October.

According to a study by the environment and economy ministries, last November and December saw about 101,000 automotive CFC units destroyed-only 11.7 percent of all the automotive chlorofluorocarbon processed.

The two ministries issued a directive in January to prefectural government offices mandating on-site inspection of CFC recovery firms to investigate the reason for the low destruction rate.

The money from tickets purchased by drivers is collected at the promotion center. Although center officials will not disclose how much money is in the pool, the low level of destruction of CFC means the center is awash in funds that should be going to the firms that destroy the coolants.

If only half of those who discarded their cars bought tickets, about 800 million yen would have been generated for the center pool just for November and December.

A center official said the accumulated money would be spent on publicity to encourage consumers to have their automotive CFC recovered and destroyed. Asahi Shimbun