Decision 50/42

The Executive Committee decided:

1. To request the Multilateral Fund Secretariat to develop specific terms of reference for a study on the treatment of unwanted ozone-depleting substances, identifying a contractor and commissioning the study described below by the end of March 2007, if possible. The study would be completed by 1 February 2008.
2. To define the two distinct objectives of the study as follows:
   1. To compile information on management approaches in five non- Article 5(1) countries for the collection, transportation and disposal of CFC-containing refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, to provide guidance and to describe the applicability of these management approaches to Article 5(1) countries; and
   2. To compile information on management approaches and markets in five non‑Article 5(1) countries for the recovery, collection, recycling and reclamation of ozone-depleting substances that result in those ODS being locally unusable, and the possible options for the disposition (e.g., reuse in other markets, transformation, destruction) of this locally unusable ODS and describe the applicability of these options for Article 5(1) countries.
3. To request that the detailed activities under the objective in paragraph (b)(i) consist of:
   1. Selecting five non-Article 5(1) countries that represent a wide spectrum of existing management approaches for the collection, transport and disposal of CFC-containing refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment;
   2. Compiling information from the five non-Article 5(1) countries and describing:
      1. The institutions, technologies and processes involved in all steps of collection, transport and disposal of the equipment;
      2. The costs of the various steps in collecting, transporting and processing the equipment;
      3. The legal and regulatory requirements and the voluntary administrative procedures for dealing with the CFCs in the equipment; and
      4. The volume of equipment collected historically and currently;
   3. Using the information compiled from the five non-Article 5(1) countries to describe the economic and financial arrangements among the various individuals and entities in the system for disposing of CFC-containing refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment; and
   4. Collecting information on experiences regarding management approaches for the collection, transportation and disposal of CFC-containing refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment in eight Article 5(1) countries, to be collected by contacting national and local government officials who will recommend additional contacts in industry and institutions in order to describe challenges that may be posed in translating the non-Article 5(1) countries’ experiences to the situation in Article 5(1) countries given domestic, social and economic factors. The selection of the countries should represent a wide spectrum of countries that have already identified challenges and should have regional representation;
4. To request that the detailed activities under the objective in paragraph (b)(ii) consist of:
   1. Using the data from the Meeting of Experts to Assess the Extent of Current and Future Requirements for the collection and disposition of non- reusable and unwanted ODS in Article 5 countries held in March 2006, data already published in reports from the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel and its subsidiary bodies, and other relevant existing data to describe possible economic incentives and their cost-effectiveness, whether inherent or external to the institutions under the Montreal Protocol, that would encourage disposition (e.g., reuse in other markets, transformation, destruction) of ODS that is locally unusable;
   2. Describing the capacity and location of all global existing facilities with destruction technologies approved by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, comparing this capacity to the estimated volume of ODS predicted to be recovered and locally unusable in the March 2006 Experts’ Meeting report, the viability and potential costs of using these existing destruction technologies, and the regulatory requirements for transporting the locally unusable ODS; and
   3. Describing opportunities other than existing destruction technologies for the disposition of locally unusable ODS, and the viability and potential costs of using these other approaches;
5. To request the Secretariat to report to the 51^st Meeting of the Executive Committee on the status of the process for contracting a consultant for carrying out the study;
6. To consider at the 52^nd Meeting of the Executive Committee the content of a progress report to be submitted to the Nineteenth Meeting of the Parties; and
7. To approve a budget for carrying out the study.