The Adopted Weight of Asbestos-Containing Products Versus Results of Stocktaking in the Area of Poland

Abstract

The performance of detailed stocktaking of asbestos-containing products including the assessment of their quality is the basic action
carried out in the process of cleaning the area from asbestos. The asbestos removal in Poland from the area of individual municipalities
is carried out based on the Programme of Country Cleaning from Asbestos for the years 2009–2023. This document determines tasks
necessary to perform by 2032 and the basis of actions consists of carrying out detailed stocktaking in field conditions. The results of
stocktaking on a current basis are registered in the Asbestos Database kept by the Ministry of Economic Development, Labour and
Technology (and before Ministry of Development) (http://www.bazaazbestowa.gov.pl). Values obtained during stocktaking in field
conditions in units of area [m2] were converted according to 3 different weight conversion factors, used over the years, i.e. 11, 14,
and 15 kg per 1 m2. Potential accumulation and thereby generation of asbestos-containing waste may be estimated also based on
the indices of generation by residents. Because of conditions in the urban and rural areas it is necessary to estimate separately waste
generation indices for those areas. Moreover, individual voivodeships feature a specific nature and each of them should be considered
on an individual basis. At present more than 480 million m2 of asbestos-containing products were registered in the territory of Poland,
which makes 7.2 million Mg, Those figures were obtained applying the conversion factor of area to weight equal to 15 kg. The greatest
accumulation is observed in the Mazovian and Lublin voivodeships. On the entire country scale the deficit of landfilling capacity is
now approx. 2,664,974 m3. The change of asbestos cement panel weight and the related change of conversion factor for the waste quantity
from the area to weight does not affect the estimation of demand for additional landfill capacities. It should be clearly emphasised,
that the amount of accumulated asbestos-containing waste, and hence the waste generation, should be provided in units of area [m2].
Values given in units of weight depend on the applied conversion factor.