Classification and management of asbestos-containing waste: European legislation and the Italian experience

Our plain-English summary of Classification and management of asbestos-containing waste: European legislation and the Italian experience, by F. Paglietti, S. Malinconico, B.C. della Staffa, et al (Waste Management, 2016).

The study

• Authors: F. Paglietti, S. Malinconico, B.C. della Staffa, S. Bellagamba, P. De Simone
• Journal: Waste Management
• Published: 2016;50:130-50
• Cited by: 17 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Objective: Production of a new classification of Asbestos Containing Products (ACPs), materials (ACM) and Asbestos Containing Waste (ACW), in addition to a correct identification of landfills where ACW should be disposed of in Europe.

Methods: Analysis of the European and Italian legislation, study of waste classification and management in the main European countries, data analysis of mapping of Italian landfills and quantification of ACW disposed there.

Findings: Classification according to unique criteria (physical state, substances with which asbestos minerals have been blended, function of the asbestos, etc.). Highlights of cases of incorrect management of ACW in Europe, specifying the Italian ones. Considering the significant inconsistencies between the European and national regulations and the actual implementation of those regulations, this paper provide some precise indications for the proper assignment to ACW of the European Waste Catalogue (EWC) codes. Lastly, suitable types of landfills at which ACW should be disposed of have been identified, in order to assisting the persons involved in ACW management to avoid undue exposition and their improper disposal.

Conclusion: This study reports a useful manual for classifying worldwide ACPs based on their physical state and considering the substances with which the asbestos minerals have been blended. Moreover several clear tables allow the asbestos remediation and waste management operators to suitably classify and dispose of ACW.

Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In plain English

This guidance paper from INAIL, the Italian Workers' Compensation Authority, was not a health study. The authors analysed European and Italian law on asbestos waste and reviewed waste classification in European countries. They also used a 2013 national mapping of Italian landfills that accept asbestos waste, plus a questionnaire sent to provincial and regional authorities and to the 22 mapped landfills. They proposed sorting asbestos-containing products into nine categories by physical state and by the materials the asbestos was mixed with. Besides the eight European Waste Catalogue codes that name asbestos, they identified 21 further codes under which Italian landfills dispose of asbestos waste. They reported misclassification, such as friable panels coded as compact building material. They found that seven of nineteen operating non-hazardous landfills had been authorised to accept hazardous asbestos waste. They tabulated 100 common waste types, each with a code and a landfill type. The authors concluded that applying these guidelines could reduce or eliminate hazards from asbestos-waste management. They noted that their product list was not exhaustive.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Regulatory analysis and guidance paper: review of European and Italian legislation and of waste classification in European countries, combined with analysis of Italian landfill mapping data and a survey questionnaire
• Who was studied: Italian asbestos-waste landfills (22 mapped nationwide in a 2013 INAIL survey) and all Italian provincial and regional authorities responsible for issuing authorizations, which received a survey questionnaire; data on accepted quantities as of 31/12/2013
• Exposure: Asbestos-containing products, materials and waste in general, not a measured exposure. The paper covers the six regulated asbestos minerals: chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite and actinolite.
• Main results:
  • The authors proposed a new classification dividing all asbestos-containing products into nine main categories, based on physical state and the substances with which asbestos was blended.
  • Besides the eight European Waste Catalogue codes that mention asbestos, the authors identified 21 further codes under which Italian landfills currently dispose of asbestos waste.
  • Seven of nineteen operating Italian landfills classified as non-hazardous waste landfills had been authorized by regional or provincial authorities to accept hazardous asbestos waste, which the authors stated contrasts with European and national regulations.
  • Analysis of Italian data found incorrect classification of asbestos waste, leading to hazardous waste being landfilled at non-hazardous landfills. In one example, friable gypsum and asbestos panels were sometimes classified under the code for building materials in a compact matrix.
  • The authors identified the 100 most widespread types of asbestos waste and tabulated, for each one, the European Waste Catalogue code, the product category and the type of landfill where it should be disposed of.
  • Because no recovery facilities were working in Italy, only waste classified as construction materials containing asbestos (code 17.06.05) could be landfilled at non-hazardous landfills. All other asbestos waste had to go to hazardous waste landfills.
  • For doubtful cases, the authors advised preferring a code whose definition contains the word asbestos over codes for waste containing or contaminated by hazardous substances.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that adopting these guidelines for classifying and managing asbestos-containing waste could reduce or eliminate the hazards from its management, through proper code assignment and disposal at suitable landfills.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that their list of asbestos-containing product types is purely indicative and not exhaustive.
  • The authors stated that the great variety of asbestos waste does not allow ready classification of all of it with the 29 codes they described.
  • The authors noted that no data is available in Italy on exposure during the management and disposal of asbestos waste at remediation sites or landfills.
  • The authors noted that their product classification is not an Italian law or regulation.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos.

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