The Hainan Provincial Government has issued a circular, requiring all home appliance products that contain fluorin to be withdrawn from the market before July 1, 2006.
The Land and Environment Resource Departments of Hainan Province and Haikou Municipality have conducted a special check in the home appliance markets of Haikou and they have found that 90% of the refrigerators at these markets contain fluorin, a chemical that destroys ozone and is harmful to the environment.
The concerned refrigerator brands are Dakesi, Xinfei, Kelon, Haier, Xingxing, Shilehua, and Tongbao.
Statistics show that about 5000 refrigerators are sold in Haikou each year, and most of those use fluorin for refrigeration.
The Hainan government plans to set up a fluorin recycling and storage center in Haikou and Sanya to be responsible for depositing the refrigerants from home appliances and cars.