Global Blowing Agent Trends – UNEP’s Latest Assessment

As part of its reporting responsibilities to the Parties of the Montreal Protocol, the UNEP Foams Technical Options Committee has assessed the global usage of the range of blowing agents used in PU and other foam applications worldwide. This quantitative assessment, based primarilyon 2001 usage, contains for the first time an assessment of non-fluorocarbon activity and includes hydrocarbons, methylene chloride and liquid CO2 among others. The assessment is expected toprovide an important baseline for similar analyses in future years, which will provide both an appraisal of the post-HCFC era in non-Article 5(1) regions and the post-CFC era in Article 5(1) countries.