Decision XXXV/11: Life-cycle refrigerant management

Noting with appreciation the 2022 assessment report of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel highlighting the ozone and climate benefits that could be achieved through additional reclamation, recycling, reuse and destruction of substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer,

Recalling the experience and the lessons learned from projects funded by the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol focusing on destruction of banks of ozone-depleting substances,

Recalling also decision 91/66 of the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund, which establishes a funding window for the preparation of national inventories of banks of used or unwanted controlled substances and a plan for the collection, transport and disposal of such substances, including consideration of recycling, reclamation and cost-effective destruction of banks,

1. To request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel to prepare a report to the parties, to be presented at the forty-sixth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, on:
   1. Available technologies for the leakage prevention, recovery, recycling, reclamation and destruction of refrigerants, and their accessibility in parties operating under paragraph 1 of Article 5 of the Montreal Protocol, including regionally specific approaches;
   2. The obstacles and challenges associated with the effective leakage prevention, recovery, recycling, reclamation and destruction of refrigerants;
   3. The costs and climate and ozone benefits associated with the leakage prevention, recovery, recycling, reclamation and disposal of refrigerants, taking into account the experience under the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol;
   4. Policies, incentive schemes, such as producer’s responsibility schemes, good practices and lessons learned related to ensuring the effective leakage prevention, recovery, recycling, reclamation and disposal of refrigerants;

2. To request the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund to consider providing a window of funding for countries who have completed their national inventories and plans in accordance with Executive Committee decision 91/66 to support the implementation of the plans;
3. To encourage parties to develop strategies, policies and activities that address life‑cycle refrigerant management;
4. To request the Secretariat to organize a one-day workshop in 2024, back to back with the forty-sixth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group or the Thirty-Sixth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, to share information, experiences and lessons learned, and to assess challenges related to ways of strengthening life-cycle refrigerant management, including, among other things, existing and potential policies, best practices, standards, and life-cycle refrigerant management opportunities.