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Kortlægning af CFC- og HCFC affald i Danmark

Summary and conclusions

Only a limited knowledge is available of the amounts and the consequences of the CFC's which will be added to the Danish Waste System in the future. The objective of this project was to quantify the expected amounts of CFC's in waste and, in a broad perspective, to assess the treatment methods in relation to possible CFC emissions from the waste.

The precondition for quantification of the amounts is detailed knowledge of where CFC may still be accumulated in different products, and of the possible magnitude of the residue amounts in different product ranges. On the basis of historical data from previous studies, statistics and supplementary information from companies, the trend in the use of CFC in Denmark has been estimated. Based on this, it has been possible to estimate the amounts of CFC's which will be added to the Danish Waste System on the basis of projection.

The general procedure for the study was as follows:

• Identification of product categories where CFC emissions can still occur.
• Collection of data for the trend in the Danish use of CFC and distribution of use in different product categories.
• Estimation of CFC residues in product categories based on knowledge of the product life and estimated possible loss of CFC. The data will be corrected for import and export of CFC-containing products.
• Survey of existing methods for treating and disposing of Danish CFC waste, and assessment of the capacity of the methods to destroy the CFC content in the waste.

The result of the study carried out shows that the gross CFC use in various products amounted to 13,300 tonnes, which will presumably end up as waste in the Danish residue system. The products were produced in the period 1960-1994. For all the products, the CFC was part of hard PUR foam. The major part of the CFC's is CFC-11. But a moderate part has been identified as CFC-12 and CFC-113. Some of the products containing CFC have already become waste, and others will become waste in the Danish Waste System in the years to come.

Table 0.1 shows how the installed amount of CFC is divided into different product ranges, and the estimated actual amount of waste distributed on product ranges.

Table 0.1 The accumulated amount of CFC used in the production and the expected amount to be treated in the Danish residue system including the treatment period.

Almost half of the total amount of CFC is assessed to come from the district heating pipes.

Furthermore, it appears that the second largest amount comes from insulation material in building insulation.

The amount of CFC in waste in the period 2002-2048 is estimated to be approx. 10,240 tonnes. 9,770 tonnes of this is CFC-11, approx. 260 tonnes is CFC 113, and approx. 210 tonnes is CFC-12.

The trend in the amount of CFC in Danish waste is shown in Fejl! Henvisningskilde ikke fundet. below.

Figure 0.1 Trend in the amount of CFC in waste in the period 2002-2048. Variable life of refrigerators, gates and pre-pipes have been used as stated in sections 5.1.1, 5.1.5 and 5.1.7. For other product ranges, fixed life has been used. The half-life period for CFC-11 is fixed at 300 years, assuming that all district heating pipes are dug up.

From the Fejl! Henvisningskilde ikke fundet. can be seen that, the largest amounts of CFC in waste will occur in he period form 2010-2017, corresponding to approx. 450-490 tonnes a year. After this period, the amount decreases significantly in the years up till 2029, and the CFC content in waste is expected to be non-existing in 2048.

The largest amount of CFC in waste, approx. 4,810 tonnes, is added to the Danish waste system from discarded pre-insulated district heating pipes. This will continue over a 50 year period up till 2048. The amount will peak about 2018, with 250 tonnes/year, assuming that all district heating pipes are dug up.

From Fejl! Henvisningskilde ikke fundet. can also be seen that building waste (insulation panels, building insulation and construction foam) is also added to the Danish Waste System in amounts up to 170 tonnes/year in 2012. CFC in building waste comes from a wide range of products and not from a single waste fraction as e.g. the district heating pipes.

In Denmark, the existing treatment and waste plants ensure reasonable handling and destruction of CFC waste, as the major part of the CFC-containing foam is sent to an incineration plant or is treated under supervised conditions with alternative methods - either in Germany or by recycling companies in Denmark.

However, it is difficult to ensure that CFC-containing insulation foam which is part of building waste will be sorted out and brought to the incineration plant as combustible material. It is therefore very likely that this type of foam ends in the landfill, where CFC will be emitted to the air.

The investigation confirms that part of the CFC-containing insulation foam which occurs as shredder waste ends in the landfill. This should be avoided, and the waste should be incinerated instead.

In general, it is assessed that the optimal disposal method for destruction of CFC-containing waste in Denmark is incineration without previous shredding or pressing. When shredding, CFC emissions occur, which will, in principle, increase the smaller the pieces becomes. The same can be said for pressing of insulation foam. For both shredding and pressing, it is a precondition that the CFC released is collected if these methods are to be equal to incineration where the rate of breaking down is above 99.9% of the incinerated amount of CFC in a Danish incineration plant.

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Version 1.0 Juli 2006, © Miljøstyrelsen.