Faster Phaseout of CFCs Will Cost Consumers : Ozone-Eating Chemical Found in Many Products
President Bush’s call for an accelerated phaseout of the production of ozone-depleting chemicals--widely hailed as a responsible step toward preserving the environment--will cost everyone from consumers to meat packers to service-station owners.
Major manufacturers say the President’s proposal last month to halt U.S. production of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, by Dec. 31, 1995, is both achievable and necessary to stop further damage to the ozone layer.
But industry observers caution that moving away from CFCs--which are widely used in commercial refrigeration systems, home and auto air conditioners, industrial cleaning solvents and some plastic foams--comes with a price.
“We’ll be prepared for the phaseout,” said Cathy Andriadis, a spokeswoman for Wilmington, Del.-based Du Pont, one of the biggest U.S. producers of CFCs. “But this is going to have a tremendous impact on everyone from the producer to the equipment manufacturer, from car dealerships and service stations to the end user.”
Heavy industry, having anticipated an early phaseout of CFCs, is better prepared to cope. Some U.S. makers of CFCs and other chemicals, for example, have been researching alternative chemicals.
Between now and 1995, some industries will use compounds known as hydrochlorofluorocarbons, or HCFCs, which contain about one-tenth as much ozone-damaging chlorine as CFCs and are not scheduled for elimination until 2030, analysts said.
Today, there are no known alternatives to HCFCs. But manufacturers said they will be prepared to switch to substitute compounds when they are developed.
Smaller businesses and consumers won’t find the switch so easy.
Some in the meat business, for example, are concerned that a switch to alternative refrigerants eventually could force them to purchase new, costly cooling equipment. If so, the changeover would affect the entire industry, tightening profit margins for distributors, warehousers and retailers, said Jim Nichols, industry services director at Western States Meat Assn. in Oakland.
And higher costs for preserving fresh meat--which requires constant refrigeration from the time of slaughter--would push up prices for consumers at the checkout counter, Nichols said.
“Profit margins are very narrow,” he said, “and any price added to the price of meat is going to be seen at the retail level.”
Motorists, meanwhile, will face added costs as service stations increasingly aim to recycle the CFCs in automobile air conditioners.
Already, the Environmental Protection Agency requires stations that service more than 100 motor vehicle air conditioners annually to recycle CFCs, mandating that workers and recycling equipment be certified.
About 166,000 of the nation’s 266,000 service stations have CFC recycling machines. And if they want to continue working on air conditioners, the rest will need to buy the $1,800 to $3,500 systems, said Simon Oulouhojian, executive director of the Mobile Air Conditioning Society in East Greenville, Pa., which represents car manufacturers and service installers.
“Small, independent service station are not going to make that kind of investment,” he said. And where stations do purchase new equipment, “naturally, there will be a cost factor” for consumers.
In the case of severe breakdowns, car owners may need to spend between $450 and $1,000 to retrofit their air conditioners to use CFC substitutes, he said.
U.S. auto makers have a head start over service stations. Along with environmentalists, they overwhelmingly support eliminating the production of ozone-depleting chemicals, and some have begun making CFC-free systems.
Chrysler Corp.’s new Grand Cherokee uses no CFCs in its air conditioner; HCFCs will also replace CFCs in the company’s 1993-model minivans this fall.
Ford Motor Co. said its car and truck air conditioners will be CFC-free by the end of 1994. General Motors Corp. said its vehicles will have alternative air conditioning systems a year later. Some foreign auto makers are also making the switch.
“The big problem for the consumer once the phaseout occurs will be with the cars on the road,” said Gerald Stofflet, assistant director of automotive emissions control at GM. “I’m not sure how significant the change will be, but the servicing will be where the consumers will really see a difference.”
How CFCs Are Used Ozone-damaging chlorofluorocarbons are used in a wide range of commercial applications. President Bush has ordered their use terminated in the United States by Jan. 1, 1995. Plastic foam: 30% Unknown*: 19% Sterilizing medical equipment: 4% Cleaning electronic circuit boards: 11% Refrigeration / air conditioning: 16% Miscellaneous: 4% Car air conditioning: 16% * includes CFCs made in U.S. but sold overseas and unreported military uses. Source: Environmental Protection Agency
BACKGROUND
In February, President Bush called for speeding up the elimination of CFC production, moving the deadline under an international agreement known as the Montreal Protocol up to Dec. 31, 1995, from the year 2000. Bush’s decision came a week after a new study suggested that the protective ozone layer, which shields Earth from harmful ultraviolet rays, has been eroding faster than anticipated in the Northern Hemisphere. As the ozone layer thins, more ultraviolet rays reach the Earth’s surface, resulting in more cases of skin cancer and cataracts.
