Overview
- Stuttgart’s regional authority says its probes show nearly unequivocal evidence of far higher SF6 releases and has imposed tightened requirements under immediate enforcement.
- Solvay is contesting the orders in court but says it has replaced valves, performed leak checks and adjusted processes, while the state environment minister notes emissions appear down about four fifths yet remain far too high.
- Researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt attribute roughly 30 tonnes of SF6 to the Bad Wimpfen area, compared with the 56 kilograms Solvay reported for 2023.
- The Deutsche Umwelthilfe has filed a criminal complaint with the Heilbronn prosecutor, and groups including NABU, BUND and Umweltinstitut München urge an immediate halt to production tied to SF6 until independent, plant-specific measurements are completed.
- SF6 is an extremely potent greenhouse gas with a warming effect around 24,000 times that of CO2 and a multi‑millennial lifetime, and the case exposes a regulatory gap in Germany where a summation parameter governs fluorinated gases rather than a specific SF6 limit, prompting calls for stronger EU and national rules.