According to a recent report by the European Environment Agency, ODS consumption in 2015 was the lowest negative level since 2006. A significant contributing factor to the low consumption was a 12% decrease in imports compared to 2014. Moreover, destruction of controlled substances increased between 2014 and 2015. Stratospheric ozone absorbs most of the sun’s ultraviolet light so it does not reach the surface of the planet, helping prevent skin cancers and other problems such as damage to crops and marine phytoplankton. Some chemicals that harm the ozone layer, also known as ozone depleting substances (ODS), have been successfully substituted by greener chemicals in most parts of the world since the Montreal Protocol came into force in 1989. Within the European Union (EU), the phase-out of ODS use is established through the ODS Regulation. Companies are obliged to report data on production, import, export and destruction, which is used to calculate ‘consumption’, the key metric tracking progress under the Protocol.
Source: http://www.eea.europa.eu/