The Safest Ways to Dispose of Asbestos
With so many rules and regulations in place for the safe removal of asbestos, you might be curious if there are the same strict rules and regulations for the safe disposal of asbestos. Safe disposal is just as crucial as safe removal, so keep the following information in mind if you plan to take care of asbestos removal in the future.
Use Trained Asbestos Removalists
If you’re questioning how to dispose of asbestos safely, you’re likely in the process of removing it from your property. Are you aware of your rights and requirements? You can only remove up to 10m2 of non-friable asbestos in your home without needing to call in trained asbestos removalists. Licensed professionals can be required if the asbestos-containing materials are damaged, crumbly, or in poor condition.
When you contact professional asbestos removalists to remove asbestos, you can also rest assured that they’ll also take care of safe disposal. You can sit back, relax, and wait to enjoy an asbestos-free home.
Look for An Authorised Disposal Site
You can’t just throw your asbestos-containing materials into your wheelie bin and make it someone else’s problem. Exposure to friable asbestos can have serious health consequences, with at least 220 people in NZ dying of related illnesses yearly.
Before you organise asbestos removal from your property, take the time to learn about authorised asbestos disposal sites near you. Your local council is typically your first contact point. They can identify a disposal site that complies with the Resource Management Act. It’s also important to call your chosen disposal site in advance so they can prepare for the arrival of your waste.
Use Asbestos Waste Bags
While you might dump building waste on the back of your trailer with no precautions to take it to your local disposal site, you can’t do the same with asbestos waste. To keep everyone safe, asbestos-containing materials must be contained within heavy-duty polythene bags of at least 200 µm thickness. These bags must be no longer than 1200mm and no wider than 900mm and should only be half-filled or less, depending on the material weight.
Once the bag has been adequately filled, close it with a gooseneck tie and mark it with an asbestos caution label.
Use Polythene Sheeting
Not all asbestos waste will fit into small 1200 x 900mm bags. If your asbestos waste is larger, purchase polythene sheets no thinner than 200 µm. Double-wrap large asbestos materials, such as pipes and sheeting, in the polythene sheets before applying tape over the whole length. The goal is to reduce the risk of the polythene sheet material tearing or splitting.
Once your materials are adequately wrapped, mark them with an asbestos waste label to ensure everyone knows to handle the waste with care.
Use Drums or Bins
Polythene bags and sheets are not always adequate for asbestos waste. Sometimes, asbestos removal experts will use drums or bins that are in excellent condition with lids and rims.
Always place said drums or bins in the asbestos work area before lining them with polythene no thinner than 200 µm. Mark the drums to warn people of the contents and wet them as you fill them to keep dust to a minimum.
When the bins are full, wipe the outer surfaces and rims before sealing them up and securing them in a safe location until they are ready to be taken to an authorised disposal site.
Take Care With Skips, Trailers, and Containers
When you’re working with large pieces of asbestos-containing materials, such as roofing or fencing sheets, traditional bags and bins won’t always be practical. To make them fit, you’d have to break the ACMs, and that’s not recommended due to the increased risk of friable asbestos.
In that case, many asbestos removal teams use waste skips, vehicle trays, trailers, and other large containers. While you might have more room to work with, you must still take great care when dealing with asbestos waste in skips, trailers, and similar.
Where possible, wrap, bag, and seal as much asbestos waste as possible before placing it into a skip or trailer. You can also place non-friable waste directly into a skip as long as it has previously been double-lined with plastic sheeting. Once the skip is full, seal the entire container with plastic sheeting before transporting it to an approved disposal site.
Use An Asbestos Removal Control Plan
Transporting asbestos waste from one area to another typically requires an asbestos removal control plan. This plan should incorporate the following details:
The asbestos waste transporter’s name
A description of how you’ll contain the waste
How much asbestos waste there is
Where the waste is stored on-site before disposal
A description of how you’ll transport the waste
The permits, paperwork, and approval requirements you have
The authority’s requirements for asbestos
Where the waste will be going
How you’ll verify correct disposal (e.g., tip dockets)
Contact Asbestos Disposal Experts
Just as asbestos removal can be complex, so can asbestos disposal. Save yourself the stress, hassle, and fuss by outsourcing this difficult task to trained asbestos removalists. They can take care of everything from its removal to its disposal and everything in between.