Project Environment
The first phase of the Swiss Climate Protection Initiative SCPI is concentrating on Brazil. Several programmes are up and running in the country for the exchange of old refrigerators for new energy-efficient equipment. But the problem of environmentally correct disposal remains unsolved. Most refrigeration appliances in Brazil continue to be disposed of using auto shredders and CFCs escape into the atmosphere.
With its highly concentrated population agglomerations, Brazil is especially suited to this project, not only because of the favourable logistics framework conditions, but also because of its political environment. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy (Minas e Energia) an extensive refrigerator exchange programme is being implemented under which a million old appliances are to be replaced each year by new, more energy-efficient ones over the next ten years.
The old appliances currently meet with inadequate and totally unsuitable recycling infrastructures, which is why the government, in consultation with the appliance manufacturers, is seeking environmentally compatible recycling solutions. At present there is not a single suitable recycling plant for refrigeration, deep-freeze or air-conditioning appliances in Brazil, which is reflected in the very high specific CFC emissions in the host country.
With the support of the SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), SENS International and Fox & Earth Industries AG have investigated recycling methods for and revenue from old appliances in Brazil. In the federal state of São Paulo alone around 1 million old appliances are accrued each year, which are met with inadequate recycling infrastructures. Most of the appliances are gathered by street collectors, who remove valuable components such as compressors from the body and then pass the cannibalised housing on to scrap dealers. This practice involves CFCs being released from the cooling circuits as early as the collection stage. The propellants contained in the insulation of the housing, also predominantly CFCs, are released during scrap processing in auto shredders.