The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is urging suppliers of home appliances like refrigerators and air-conditioners in Africa to stop using chemicals that damage the earth’s ozone layer.

Air-conditioning units and refrigeration systems that use hydrochloroflurocarbon (HCFC) cooling chemicals cause the most damage to the section of the earth’s atmosphere that protects us from the sun’s harmful rays.

HCFC is the most popular refrigerant currently on sale. It is a non-toxic, non-flammable mixture of chemicals that goes back and forth between liquid and gas forms as it heats or cools appliances such as refrigerators or air-conditioners.

At a meeting in Kigali yesterday, UNEP representatives asked air-conditioning and refrigeration business owners to consider putting a limit on the amount of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment they buy which use HCFC.

"You are giving quotas to importers, so that means you are also starving the market,” said Marvin Kamthunzi, a UNEP consultant.

Kamthunzi noted that Europe has outright banned HCFC and is now using alternative refrigerant chemicals that do not cause the same damage to the environment. The market has responded accordingly.

With decreased demand for HCFC, "new equipment coming into the country is cheaper and it’s coming with alternatives,” he said.

Developing countries that signed the UN Montreal Protocol on phasing out substances that cause damage to the ozone layer have committed to reducing their HCFC usage by 10 per cent by 2015, with the eventual goal of abandoning it completely by 2030.

Rwanda has already reduced its use of HCFC in air-conditioning and refrigeration systems by 30 per cent.

"We are part of the global village and it is our duty to comply at least for the sake of others,” said Rose Mukankomeje, director general of the Rwanda Environment Management Authority.

"People understand the negative impact of those chemicals. We should not turn the country into a dumping site,” Mukankomeje added.

HCFC-22, the most dangerous of the HCFC refrigerants, has 1810 times more potential to contribute to global warming than carbondioxide, which contributes to more than 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. It also has significant potential to damage the ozone.

By contrast, hydrocarbons, an alternative refrigerant, do not deplete the ozone layer because they evaporate before they reach that level of the atmosphere. HCFC-22 chemicals stay in the atmosphere for 12 years, according to UNEP.

But one air-conditioning and refrigeration business owner expressed concern about the challenges of reducing HCFC usage on such a short time line.

"I think it’s going to be a nightmare because when R-12 (another refrigerant) was being phased out, we already had an alternative in the market,” said a participant. 

Many alternatives to HCFC chemicals are considered volatile and highly flammable, meaning they are dangerous for air-conditioning and refrigeration technicians to use, despite the fact that they are better for the environment.

Kamthunzi said training would be necessary to ensure that technicians know how to properly handle any new refrigerants on the market.

Businesses and refrigeration and air-conditioning experts from 28 African countries are meeting in Kigali until Friday to discuss adopting alternative refrigerants and how to safely handle and service equipment that uses these new chemicals.

The meeting also focuses on creating national associations to business operations that meet international standards such as the Montreal Protocol.