Decision XXXVII/3: Study on quantities of and options for used and unwanted controlled substances under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, including those at their end of life

The Thirty-Seventh Meeting of the Parties,

Noting the importance of avoiding emissions of controlled substances from equipment during servicing and at end of life and preventing their release into the atmosphere,

Decides:

  1. To request the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel to prepare, for consideration by the Thirty-Ninth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, a comprehensive report that includes:
    1. An estimate of the quantity, at the global level, of used and unwanted refrigerants containing controlled substances, taking into account the national inventories developed pursuant to decision 91/66 of the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol and other sources of information, as well as the uncertainties in obtaining information relating to used and unwanted refrigerants and end-of-life equipment;
    2. Identification of existing destruction and reclamation facilities that can accept used refrigerants from other countries and the conditions associated with exporting used refrigerants for disposal at such facilities, taking into account any legislative barriers to transboundary movements;
    3. Estimates of the potential benefits in terms of avoided ozone‑depleting-potential tonnes and carbon-dioxide-equivalent tonnes associated with the reclamation and destruction of used and unwanted refrigerants;
  2. To request the Executive Committee to conduct a review of any national inventories and plans prepared pursuant to decision 91/66 and submitted before 1 September 2026 and provide the review to the Ozone Secretariat by 15 January 2027 for subsequent transmission to the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel, in order to assist with the preparation of the study referred to in paragraph 1 above;
  3. To invite parties to submit, on a voluntary basis, to the Ozone Secretariat, by 31 May 2026, information on existing reclamation and destruction facilities in their respective countries and, where available, the respective capacity of those facilities, including the information requested in paragraph 1 (b) above, and to request the Ozone Secretariat to make that information available to the parties.