Alba has replaced more than 80 per cent of the halon it uses in fire and cooling systems and despatched the redundant gas to a Saudi-based treatment and recycling facility, according to a company spokesman.

“It is the first time that such an exercise involving two countries has been carried out to ensure that environmentally harmful substances are disposed of properly,” said Alba.
The smelter is now on the verge of declaring itself as a totally chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)-free and ozone-friendly aluminium smelter.
“Halons have been used all over the world in fire extinguishing and cooling applications – but, as CFCs, they are also ozone depleting substances.
An international agreement, the Montreal Protocol, was signed more than a decade ago to protect the stratospheric ozone.
It stipulates that the production and consumption of substances that deplete ozone are to be phased out and, Bahrain, a signatory to the Montreal Protocol, has enacted laws that ban the import and use of these substances by 2010.
“Alba faced problems in finding an appropriate way of safely disposing the recovered gases and we kept the halon safely in store for more than four years, while we worked closely with government authorities to establish a halon bank,” said the Alba safety health and environment manager, Hassan Alaradi.
“With the help and support of the Environmental Affairs Directorate and the Saudi Government, Alba has finally obtained the necessary approval and successfully despatched the halon,” he added.