TWO refrigeration engineers were convicted by a New Zealand court for depleting the ozone layer by recklessly releasing R22.
The men had been repairing a drinks chiller in Auckland last year and were cleaning a blocked condenser when the ozone depleting substance R22 was released.

The discharge was witnessed by a member of the public, with refrigeration industry knowledge, whose warnings to the engineers about the hazardous substance were ignored.

The incident was then reported which led to last week’s prosecution.

The men were convicted under the Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996 for reckless discharge of R22. They were both fined $750 plus court costs.