Government efforts to curb the depletion of the Earth's Ozone Layer got big boost with the completion of the country's first halon recovery and recycling facility in Metro Manila under the government phase-out program on the use of halons and other ozone-depleting substances.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Antonio Cerilles announced the opening of the facility which is capable of recovering 35 metric tons of Halons used in the manufacture of fire extinguishers and their replacement with alternative ozone-friendly substitute such as dry powders and carbon dioxide.

The plant of Excelta Trading Corporation located in Paranaque received a grant from the Multilateral Fund of the 1987 Montreal Protocol, an international pact signed by 167 countries, including the Philippines, calling for an end on the use and production of ozone depleting substances (ODS) by year 2030.

Cerilles said the halon bank facility will operate in full blast this year pending the issuance of an occupancy permit to be issued by the Paranaque City Hall and Meralco.

Source: MANILA BULLETIN, 16 April 1999