Aerosols are widely used in several applications involving propellants including perfumes, shaving foams, insecticides, pharmaceuticals, paints and inhalers. Twenty three projects were supported covering 44 enterprises to phase out CFC-11 and CFC-12 in this sector.
Industry Structure:The total production of aerosol containers in 1991 was estimated to be 45 million, of which over 90% used CFCs as propellants. About 200 aerosol manufacturers were identified, concentrated mainly in the western and northern parts of India. All enterprises were in the private-sector. A significant majority of these enterprises (about 70%) were SMEs, many of which were in the informal sector, principally manufacturing personal care products such as perfume and deodorant sprays.
ODS Consumption in Aerosol Sector: In 1991, the Aerosol sector consumed 1,100 MT of CFCs (about 40% CFC-11 and 60% CFC-12), which amounted to about 22% of India’s total CFC consumption at that time. It was estimated that the demand for aerosol products would grow at 20% annually until 2000, 18% annually until 2005 and 15 % annually until 2010. These estimates were based on considerations such as emerging customer base for personal care products, entry of multinational corporations in India leading to expansion of the manufacturing base in this sector, reduction in taxes on cosmetics, etc.
Technology: Hydrocarbon-based aerosol propellants were identified in most of the aerosol sub-sectors as the preferred substitute technology for phasing out CFCs, specifically, butane, destenched liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), etc.
The SMEs predominantly used locally developed manual propellant filling machines, which, were suitable for CFC propellants, but considered unsafe and unsuitable for hydrocarbon-based substitute propellants. Moreover, many of the SMEs had manufacturing facilities in locations which could be considered unsafe for handling hydrocarbon-based propellants. Thus, safety measures for handling hydrocarbons including safety training and audits were identified as important inputs in addition to investments needed for conversions.
The consumption of CFCs in this sector has already been completely phased out except use in manufacturing of MDIs for Asthma and COPD patients.