Cuban plant to destroy ozone-depleting products

Siguaney cement factory in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba will be transformed into the region's first incineration plant for substances harmful to the ozone layer (Photo: Escambray)

Cuba will be the first country in the region to open a plant meant to destroy compounds harmful to the ozone layer.

The first plant in Latin America with the purpose of destroying substances harmful to the ozone layer will be operational soon in Cuba announced Salvador Damas, deputy technical director of the factory.

The project will be carried out at the Siguaney cement factory in the country’s central province of Sancti Spiritus and is part of a strategy developed by Cuba and the Multilateral Fund of the Protocol of Montreal through the UN Development Program (UNDP). Cuba will have the world’s fifth plant for incineration of harmful gases confirmed Elier Rodriguez, project specialist.

The objective of the plant is to destroy chloroflurocarbons (CFC) also known as Freon in order to secure the region's ecosystem and prevent harmful emissions from reaching the atmosphere. Cuba will contain CFC in refrigeration systems and air conditioning in order to eliminate the compound. Rodriguez confirmed that the government will maintain strict security measures for the incineration that will reach temperatures of over 1,200 degree Celsius.

Damas explained that according to the project's timeline, the technical trials and the inauguration of the plant will be carried out with the participation of specialists from the Spanish firm Miesa Exportacion S.L. The firm will supply the automated technology he clarified in statements given to Prensa Latina.

According to the Ozone Technical Office under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (Citma), Cuba has more than 130 tons of Freon 12 and 22 stored.

CFC is an organic compound made up of carbon, chlorine and fluorine. Due to CFC's contribution to ozone depletion, the international community has called for the phasing out of these compounds under the Montreal Protocol. CFC has been widely used in refrigerants and propellants. Also, CFC is commonly used on aircraft, ships, and large vehicles.

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