British Columbia, the largest pulp producing regions in the world, has passed legislation mandating the phase-out of chlorine and chlorinated compounds such as chlorine dioxide, by the year 2002. A hopeful sign in the US is the Chlorine Zero Discharge Act, which now has over 60 cosponsors and is an amendment now being considered as part of the Clean Water Act. It is, but they haven't. Chlorine-free activists everywhere need to put the pressure on Time. Solvents Chlorinated solvents are primarily used in degreasing and metal cleaning, for example, in the automobile and electronics industries.
Chlorinated solvents are also the mainstay of the dry cleaning industry.
Dry cleaning was the one block on a complete ban. This is an important point because dry cleaning is the largest single use of perc the US dry cleaning industry alone uses approximately 300 million pounds a year. But there is good news in this sector as well. Clean alternatives for clothes cleaning, based on the use of water and natural soaps, have been identified. Alternatives do exist for all the major sectors of chlorine and that, with enough pressure, a chlorine phase-out is possible.