By Stephen Freeland, ESA Policy Advisor
Around 180,000 tonnes of bonded (cement) asbestos is disposed of each year in the UK. The journey of asbestos waste, from site of production through to collection, transport and final disposal should be carried out safely to help prevent accidental exposure to this material during its handling and transit.
Waste producers clearly play a key role, with on-site waste management decisions and practices impacting on how bonded asbestos is presented for onward collection and transport to disposal point. Unfortunately, landfill operators note instances of hauliers arriving on site with asbestos waste presented for disposal in varying conditions, including loose and unwrapped within open containers. This of course has implications for all those in the asbestos management chain, not least compliance, risk and insurance.
ESA and our Members are committed to driving the highest standards across the industry – protecting the environment, our workforce and the public – and have therefore taken this opportunity to produce guidance setting out the minimum standards that ESA Members expect of hauliers and producers when packaging and presenting loads of bonded asbestos to disposal sites.
This guidance document is available to view and download here and, for members, through our members’ area.
Crucially, the guidance aims to bring about an end to the practice whereby loads of broken bonded asbestos arrive for disposal at landfill sites unwrapped in open containers. This is an entirely unacceptable means for the transport and disposal of asbestos waste, which places landfill staff and the wider community at risk.
In an update to a previous version, the guidance provides some additional clarity on the circumstances in which loads should be consigned under full ADR regulations, or where the SP168 exemption could legitimately apply. The guidance explains how the asbestos should be packaged and presented under each option and assists disposal site managers of the actions and decisions needed to be taken depending on how loads of this material are presented at site.
Uptake and implementation of the guidance will be monitored and we hope that this will help bring about the necessary step-change in the management and handling of this waste stream – with the aim of securing more consistent compliance across the entire management chain. Additionally, ESA will seek to engage organisations across the waste management chain that our members tend to have less influence over, namely waste producers and hauliers, to help raise awareness of the approach taken in the guidance.
