To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the capacity of available facilities safely to capture and dispose of products containing ozone depleting substances, with particular reference to those contained within plastic foam insulation. (210701)

The UK has some of the largest and most modern fridge treatment plants in Europe. These recover ozone-depleting substances from the fridge insulating foam and circuits, as well as, in some cases, other equipment containing ozone-depleting substances.

There are two high temperature incinerators in the UK that are used to destroy waste ozone-depleting substances.

The use of ozone-depleting substances in building insulation foams has been banned in the EU since the beginning of 2004. Most of these foams are currently still in buildings. DEFRA has initiated discussions with building industry stakeholders to assess the current infrastructure available for dealing with the recovery or destruction of ozone-depleting substances in building foams and the technical and economic issues that arise.