HONEYWELL in the USA has begun destroying its inventories of certain CFCs and CFC blends and selling the resulting emission reduction credits for use in California's greenhouse gas cap-and-trade programme.
The company says it has already destroyed more than 27,000 pounds (12,000kg) of R11 and plans to destroy its remaining inventory of ozone-depleting R11, R12 and R500 refrigerants this year.

By taking this action, Honeywell expects to generate more than 125,000 climate reserve tonnes (CRTs), which are credits it can sell to third parties who need credits for California's greenhouse gas cap-and-trade programme. The sale of credits will offset the cost of destroying the refrigerants.

Under California's programme, certain companies are granted allowances for each metric ton of greenhouse gas they emit. They can trade unused allowances or purchase eligible emission reduction credits as needed to stay under the cap.