Context in Belarus
Ozone-depleting substances (ODS)
Belarus signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer on January 22, 1988 and ratified it on October 31, 1988. As of January 2021, the country is the Party to all its amendments excluding the Kigali Amendment.
Belarus has never produced ODSs but heavily consumed these, and today phases out ODS and transfers to ozone-safe alternatives.
CFCs were totally phased-out in 2004 but HCFC are still in use.
Consumption of ODSs (HCFC) in Belarus, 2013–2019
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total mt | 140.9 | 115.1 | 63.3 | 51.5 | 41.2 | 20.1 | 13.3 |
| Total ODP ton | 7.2 | 5.8 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 0.7 |
| Maximum established consumption for Belarus, ODP ton | 12.7 | 12.7 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 5.1 |
Historically, the major ODS consuming sectors in the country are production of refrigeration equipment, heat‐insulating materials and electronics, and repair and servicing of refrigeration and air conditioning equipment.
With 15-year service life of refrigeration equipment and air conditioners, today all CFC-containing equipment may be deemed outdated. ODSs contained in refrigeration circuits of that equipment constitute a so called ODS bank. According to the statistics and preliminary estimates, its estimated volume amounts 10.93 mln t СO2-eq.
Estimated CFCs in domestic refrigerators and air conditioners [1]
| CFC-containing equipment | Units, mln | ODP tons* 1991–2004 | T СO2-eq, mln |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic refrigerators (CFC-12 and CFC-11) |
2.7 | 858.6 | 6.11 |
| Stationary air conditioners (CFC-12) |
0.45 | 450.0 | 4.82 |
| Total (estimated) | 3.15 | 1308.6 | 10.93 |
* Ozone-depleting potential of CFC-11 and CFC-12 is taken as a unit of ODP, so the amount of ODSs in metric tons is equal to their ODP in ODP tons.
The HCFC appliances are still in operation, so the volume of HCFC bank cannot be estimated at the moment.
Persistent organic pollutants (POP)
Belarus signed the Stockholm Convention on December 26, 2003 and ratified on March 5, 2004.
Most of POP stockpiles are composed of obsolete pesticides and stored at warehouses of various storage capacity and safety level, at landfills for obsolete pesticides and at Gomel toxic industrial waste treatment and disposal facility.
In 2012, 2,006 tons of POPs from the Slonim landfill were destroyed at Sawa GmbH, Germany.
Obsolete pesticides in Belarus, t, 2017–2020 [2]
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 10,333.497 | 10,345.146 | 10,359.274 | 10,298.7022 |
| Warehouses | 1,754.142 | 1,558.063 | 1,570.731 | 1,404.48 |
| Gomel toxic industrial waste treatment and disposal facility | 4,232.073 | 4,522.729 | 4,522.729 | 4,725.272 |
| Landfills | 4,347.282 | 4,264.354 | 4,264.354 | 4,156.372 |
For reasons of safety, POPs stored at warehouses are repacked according to EU standards, however several cases of self-ignition with destruction of containers and release of chemicals have been registered.
Landfilled obsolete pesticides cause specific concern.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and PCB-containing equipment
The country has undertaken to stop using PCBs by 2025 and dispose of PCB‐containing waste by 2028. In achieving this objective, an important part is given to the international technical cooperation.
As for liquid PCBs in electrical equipment, the inventory revealed approximately 1,561.6 tons of them. 823.1 tons of wastes containing approximately 247 tons of liquid PCBs were transported as part of the joint project by the GEF and World Bank to France for safe destruction.
Today the estimated PCB stockpiles in various equipment amount to 1,240.8 mt, and PCB-containing wastes, including decommissioned equipment, contaminated soil, metal and reinforced concrete structures, etc., to 506.75 tons. [2]
1 – Environment protection in the Republic of Belarus: Statistical book (2020) Minsk.
2 – Botyan E. A., Trush Y. V., Fomenok A. V. (Eds.) (2020) Bulletin on persistent organic pollutants presenting information on pesticides, relevant landfill facilities, pesticide-contaminated territories; polychlorinated biphenyls, equipment, materials and wastes containing them, PCB-contaminated territories; emission sources of unwanted POPs, content of POPs in the environment. Minsk.