CFC disposal problem turns into $260K profit for Sara Lee. (chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants sold by Sara Lee Corp. to National Refrigerants Inc.; 260 thousand dollars)

DEERFIELD, Ill. -- The Sara Lee Corp. here has turned a $300,000 waste disposal liability into a $259,142 profit by selling unwanted chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerant to National Refrigerants, Inc., Philadelphia, a reclamation company.

A spokesman for National Refrigerants claimed the project is the largest reclamation of ozone-depleting CFC's in the world.

When Sara Lee closed its 613,000-square-foot plant here last December, the company budgeted $300,000 for the disposal of 392,640 pounds of R-11, a CFC refrigerant commonly used in space conditioning and refrigeration equipment. But facilities manager Jerry Spetnagel turned the potential expense into …