Permissible waste

Asbestos and fiber cement

Management of fiber cement

Given the danger of fiber cement as asbestos, we must protect ourselves when touching it.

If to remove the material we need to disassemble it, we will not do it, but we will have to hire the services of a specialized company that is in charge. These companies must be registered in the Register of Expresses with Risk of Asamiante (RERA), of the Department of Labor of the Generalitat of Catalonia.

On the other hand, if it is a small piece that we can transport to the clean point, the following precautions must be taken:

  1. Never break, cut or pierce the material (if it breaks, fibers are released, increasing the risk of inhalation).
  2. Avoid handling the material in the presence of other people, to reduce the risk of exposure to third parties.
  3. Use gloves and a mask of a sun, and fill it all up when we finish the woman. The mask can be collected at the same clean point.
  4. Wet the material to prevent the release of fibers, thus reducing the risk of inhaling them. Wet the material to prevent the release of fibers, thus reducing the risk of inhaling them.
  5. Wrap the residue with cling film or bags. The clean point supplies film for this purpose.
  6. Wash the clothes we have used without shaking them or mixing them with others, to reduce the risk of transferring the fibers that adhere to them.
  7. Do not clean the affected area with brooms or air to avoid dispersing the fibers in the air. Use a damp mop and rinse or throw it away when finished.
  8. Shower once the work is finished, to remove any fibers that may have adhered to the skin.
  9. Take the fiber cement duly wrapped and separated from the rest of the materials to the clean point, and deposit it in the corresponding place following the instructions of the operators.

It is very important never to abandon this waste in the natural environment or on public roads, nor to deposit it in the containers found on the street.

Industrialists cannot go to the clean point to take this type of waste. They must follow a specific work protocol, hiring a specialized company registered in the Register of Companies at Risk of Amiant (RERA).

Consult companies specialized in asbestos removal.
Related concepts

ASBEST, or ASBESTOS, is the name given to a group of fibrous metamorphic minerals, generally amosite, chrysolite, crocidolite and the fibrous forms of tremora, actinolite and anthophyllite, which can be found in the natural state.

Asbestos minerals have long, tough fibers that can be separated and are flexible enough to be intertwined and also withstand high temperatures. Because of these characteristics, asbestos has been used in a wide variety of manufactured products, mainly in construction materials, friction products, heat-resistant fabrics, containers, packaging, and coatings.

The FIBROCEMENT is a mixture of soft cement and asbestos fibers (or asbestos) that give it a great mechanical strength while a great lightness and resistance to weathering. For this reason, it was used to close facades, light roofs or for the manufacture of pipes or chimneys, especially in the 1970s.