Terminal Phase-out Management Plan

Purpose of Project

The Terminal Phase-out Management Plan aims to achieve the final phase-out of ozone-depleting substances from Cambodia. Its objective is to ensure that Cambodia complies fully with the 2007 and 2010 control milestones set out in the reduction schedule of the Montreal Protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. Ozone-depleting substances are chlorofluorocarbon gases, primarily CFC-12, used in refrigeration and air-conditioning systems. As a party to the Montreal Protocol, Cambodia is committed to eliminating consumption of new CFCs by 2010 and ensuring that they are not reintroduced. Cambodia cut its consumption of new CFCs from 94.2 ozone depleting potential (ODP) tonnes in the baseline year of 2002 to 11.59 ODP tonnes in 2007, putting it ahead of its 2007 target of 14.14 ODP tonnes set under the Montreal Protocol reduction schedule. Cambodia is also withdrawing CFC-12 from use in existing systems and replacing it with the non-depleting gas HCF-134a. Ozone-depleting gases are now being used mainly in mobile air conditioners in ageing cars, and it is expected that the stock of CFC-12 in use will be reduced to nearly zero as these vehicles are gradually taken off the road. The National Ozone Unit in the Ministry of Environment is tackling this challenge in partnership with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UNDP, and with the support of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol, which assists developing countries to comply with the protocol’s control measures.

Main Activities

• Cooperate with the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to prevent registration of vehicles with air-conditioning systems that use CFC-12.
• Cooperate with Customs and Excise and Camcontrol to prevent the illegal import of vehicles with air conditioning systems that use CFC-12.
• Establish and manage a programme for paying incentives to vehicle owners who agree to replace their car air conditioners with new systems that do not use CFC-12, or to retrofit their existing systems to use HCF-134a.
• Provide equipment and train technicians at selected mobile air conditioning service centres in retrofitting procedures and related good practices, including recovery and recycling of refrigerants.
• Generate awareness and disseminate information about the incentive programme to vehicle owners and enterprises servicing mobile air conditioners and refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

Key Results

• About 6.33 ODP tonnes of CFC-12 were recovered and recycled and 3,477 cars were retrofitted with non-ozone depleting mobile air conditioning systems during the life of the TPMP project.
• Seven service workshops were provided with equipment and training to do retrofitting, recovery and recycling in 2009, bringing the number of authorized garages to 30.
• Refresher training in retrofitting, recovery and recycling was held in 2008 for 41 technicians from 23 garages, and in 2009 for 41 technicians from the seven new garages and some of the 23 established garages.
• 111 technicians attended workshops on good practices in refrigeration.
• The Cambodia Refrigeration Association was formed to continue the work of training technicians.
• 54 officials from the Department of Public Works and Transportation and the Department of Environment attended a workshop on the implementation of the Montreal Protocol in 2009.
• 120 officers from Customs and Excise and Camcontrol were trained in monitoring and controlling imports of ozone depleting substances at border checkpoints in workshops in 2009.
• The National Ozone Unit produced banners, teeshirts and calendars for distribution to authorized mobile air-conditioner service centres and relevant stakeholders.

Background

The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was negotiated in 1985 following the discovery that chlorofluorocarbon gases (CFCs) and other man-made substances were leading to a depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer that protects the earth’s atmosphere. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, a protocol to the Vienna Convention, was agreed in 1987. The aim of the Montreal Protocol is to reduce and ultimately phase out the use of substances that deplete the ozone layer. Cambodia acceded to the Vienna Convention and ratified the Montreal Protocol in 2001. A survey established that in 2002 Cambodia consumed 94.2 ozone depleting potential (ODP) tonnes of ozone depleting substances. The survey showed that consumption of ozone depleting substances occurred mainly in the assembly, repair and maintenance of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment. Some 84 percent of the total was used in the servicing of mobile air conditioners in vehicles. In 2003, the Government adopted a Country Programme and a Refrigerant Management Plan which committed Cambodia to phasing out consumption of new ozone depleting substances completely by 2010. The four-year Refrigerant Management Plan (2004-2007), implemented with support from UNDP and funding from the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol, paid incentives to vehicle owners to have their cars retrofitted with air conditioners that do not use ozone-depleting substances. It also bought equipment for selected mobile air-conditioner service centres and trained technicians in how to install new car air conditioners, retrofit existing systems to use the non-ozone depleting gas HCF-134a, and recover and recycle CFC-12. The Refrigerant Management Plan laid the foundation for the work of the Terminal Phase-out Management Plan. From November 2005 to the end of July 2008, about 26.7 tonnes of CFC-12 were recovered from car air considered and 3,848 cars were retrofitted with systems that use HFC-134a. The Terminal Phase-out Management Plan proposed that consumption of new CFCs would be reduced from 13.5 ODP tonnes in 2007, to 10 ODP tonnes in 2008, 7 ODP tonnes in 2009 and zero ODP tonnes in 2010. The TPMP project was implemented in two phases: Phase 1 from March 2007 to June 2008 and Phase II from July 2008 to December 2009.