Demand outpaces funding to replace Latvia’s asbestos slate roofs

Asbestos-containing slate roofs remain widespread in Latvia, but funding for their safe removal and disposal is quickly exhausted, LSM reported. Support available to Latvia’s Honorary Families can help only 250 to 300 households a year, despite demand exceeding the allocated funding.

Many homeowners are replacing roofs during the summer renovation season. A study conducted three years ago found that Latvian buildings had about one million tonnes of asbestos-containing slate roofing. Such roofs will eventually have to be replaced.

Rudīte Vesere, deputy state secretary at the Ministry of Climate and Energy, said asbestos slate should not be buried in roads, placed in garden beds or used elsewhere as additional support. It should be properly packaged and transported away.

Vesere said the material should be removed from roofs by professionals. She warned people not to climb onto roofs with teenagers or children who might help, particularly without respirators.

Mārtiņš Niklass, head of the development department at ZAAO, said the World Health Organization had classified asbestos as a Group 1 carcinogen. It therefore cannot be delivered together with other mixed waste.

According to Niklass, asbestos slate must be packaged where it is generated, either in polypropylene bags or in stretch film. The load must also be properly marked if it is transported together with other types of waste.

Waste management companies said accepting and disposing of asbestos-containing slate costs considerably more than disposing of ordinary construction waste.

Andris Karlsons, a board member of Eco Baltia vide, said methods existed in Europe and elsewhere to neutralise slate so that it would no longer harm people or the environment. However, he said the process was too expensive and rarely used. At present, safe underground disposal is almost the only option.

Proper packaging is important not only during transport but also to protect landfill workers.