The European Union (EU) has achieved its goals to phase out ozone-depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol. A new European Environment Agency (EEA) report shows that in 2018 the EU again destroyed or exported more ozone-depleting substances than it produced or imported. The EEA’s annual report on ozone-depleting substances confirms that the EU keeps contributing to the global phase-out of chemicals harming the ozone layer, in line with its commitments under the Montreal Protocol. Ozone-depleting substances (ODS) are widely used in refrigerants, polymers, pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals. The new EEA report shows that the consumption of ozone-depleting substances in the EU in 2018 remained negative (-1 505 tonnes), which means that more of these substances were destroyed or exported than produced or imported. The EU’s consumption of these substances has been negative since 2010 with the exception of 2012.
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