Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: CFC Production Falls

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CARACAS, Jan 27 2007 (IPS) - Venezuela will produce 4,000 tons fewer of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) annually, and 2,900 less in 2008, thanks to the closure of Produven, the leading local manufacturer of these refrigerants that deplete the Earth's atmospheric ozone layer. The measure is part of the 2004-2008 framework program agreed by the company and the government's Industrial Reconversion Fund.

According to reports from the Fund, the company is receiving 16 million dollars in reparations and, as established by law, the workers who are laid off or who change jobs will also be compensated. The plant ceased operations Dec. 31.

“Actions like this should take place with greater frequency, and they have been achieved in part because of the supervision of the Venezuelan plant by the Multilateral Fund for the application of the Montreal Protocol” on ozone-depleting substances, Yazenia Frontado, spokeswoman for the environmental group Vitalis, told Tierramérica.