AT&T; Pledges to Halt CFC Emissions by ’94

American Telephone & Telegraph Co. will eliminate emissions of environmentally dangerous chlorofluorocarbons from all its manufacturing processes by 1994, the company announced Tuesday.

The new corporate policy calls for AT&T;, by 1991, to cut emissions of CFCs from manufacturing in half, as compared to 1986 levels, and to complete elimination of the emissions by 1994.

The chemicals will continue to be used in some processes, but improvements in manufacturing will prevent all emission into the atmosphere after the self-imposed deadline, AT&T; said.

CFCs, which scientists say are destroying Earth’s protective ozone layer, are man-made chemicals used in hundreds of electronic manufacturing processes and in cleaning and refrigeration.

When CFC molecules float into the upper atmosphere, their chlorine, fluorine and carbon atoms are broken down by the sun and react with and destroy the ozone molecules that protect the Earth from excess ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.

Without the ozone layer, skin cancers would increase and photosynthesis, the process by which plants turn sunlight into energy, could be disrupted.

Under the so-called Montreal Protocol, signatory nations have agreed to cut their use of CFCs in half by the end of the century. Earlier this year, President Bush and some European leaders called for the elimination of all CFC use by the year 2000.

“The clock is ticking,” said David Chittick, AT&T;’s vice president for environment and safety engineering. “I see the day when the door is going to be closed on the use of these chemicals and, if we don’t start now, there won’t be time left” to find products to replace CFCs.

AT&T; has already developed two processes that could eliminate some applications of CFCs, including one that uses a solvent derived from oranges and wood pulp and another that eliminates an entire processing step, Chittick said.

“Every time you eliminate handling in the manufacturing of electronics, you incrementally raise quality,” he said.

The new AT&T; policy does not include ending the use of CFCs in refrigeration or air conditioning, said Lydia Whitefield, an AT&T; spokeswoman.