Complying with the country’s current regulations is a fundamental matter for correct company performance. Thus, all those companies that keep equipment to date containing PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) or Askarels in operation, must stop their use by 2025 and must subsequently manage their correct elimination with a 2028 deadline (regulations defined in the Stockholm Convention where Chile has been a party since 2005).
Our country, in this sense, has various companies (electrical distribution, transportation, metallurgical, mining, among others) that maintain the equipment containing PCBs active, in particular, refrigerants for their proper functioning, since this organic substance (prohibited worldwide in 1982) is resistant to flammability and therefore able to withstand high temperatures.
Their manufacture and sale prohibition is related to the different environmental and health damages that they can cause, because they are persistent in the environment with a reduced biodegradation capacity, they generate bioaccumulation, toxicity, neurological and immunological alterations, and can be carcinogenic when exposed to high concentrations, among other adverse effects.
To eliminate PCBs correctly in Chile, it is necessary to turn to companies specialized in the area in order to export them safely, as our country does not have the necessary technology for this purpose. Thus, Hidronor Chile has the logistical capacity and adequate professional experience to take charge of the entire process of eliminating PCBs, exporting these products to Europe.
Its service consists in the transfer, storage and exporting of PCBs safely, in accordance with national and international regulations. Once the waste reaches the country of destination, it is disposed of using the high temperature incineration method with gas control.
Regarding this solution, Carolina Escandón, Hidronor's Business Executive pointed out, “at Hidronor we make sure that our services and processes involved in each of them are aligned to achieve a sustainable development which remains in constant innovation and allows us to offer our clients integrated productive and sustainable solutions as a basis to environmental caring and the value-added of the development of industries”.
Te invitamos a visualizar el reportaje sobre normativa de PCBs en Chile, realizado por el programa Reporte Minero y Energético, de TVN, donde participamos como empresa experta en la correcta gestión de PCBs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ev81ww7ub0&ab_channel=HidronorChile
