Source of new CFC emissions

Since 2013, annual emissions of a banned chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) have increased by around 7 Australia and Switzerland. Last year, it was reported that emissions of one of the most important ozone depleting substances, CFC-11, had increased. This chemical was used primarily as a foaming agent for building insulation, refrigerators and other consumer products. The surprise finding indicated that someone, somewhere was likely producing and emitting thousands of tonnes of CFC-11, despite a global phase-out since 2010 under the Montreal Protocol. Dr Matt Rigby , a lead author of the study and Reader in Atmospheric Chemistry in the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol, explained: "Through global monitoring networks such as the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment ( AGAGE ) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Global Monitoring Division ( NOAA GMD ), scientists have been making measurements of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere for over 40 years. "In recent decades, we've primarily seen declining CFC emissions reflected in these measurements, because of the Montreal Protocol. Therefore, it was unexpected when it was reported last year that, starting around 2013, global emissions of one of the most important CFCs suddenly began to grow." This finding was concerning because CFCs are the main culprits in depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, which protects us from the sun's ultra-violet radiation. Any increase in emissions of CFCs will delay the time it takes for the ozone layer, and the Antarctic ozone "hole", to recover. But where were these new emissions coming from?