Management of small volumes of asbestos-cement materials in Brazil: From use to waste

The management of waste construction (CDW) is a challenge to public administrators, the study of the management system of the municipality of São Paulo conducted in this Thesis, after five years of effectiveness of the online collection tracking system in the city, pointed out improvements, such as the improvement of the supervision of the CDW in transport and at destination, and the increase in the number of Ecopontos, however, despite the increase in the flow for small volumes, hazardous CDW remain on the margin of this infrastructure, depending on reverse logistics that does not always meet the diversity of CDW generated, such as small volumes of asbestos-cement materials (ACM). For the estimation of the amount of ACM, the evolution of the market and the banning of asbestos were researched, collecting data on the internal consumption of chrysotile, from 1998 (period of use permission) to 2017 (year of ban), the generation of cement waste -asbestos (CWA) (2012 to 2017), as well as the percentage of fibers per composite and durability factor. There was a significant difference between the average annual production of ACM (1.38 million t) and the generation of CWA (17 thousand t), evidencing a large amount in use and that the installed capacity of class I landfills in the country is below the projected CWA demand. The UK international management system chosen provides clear technical instructions to the self-builders, for the safe removal of small volumes of asbestos cement and provides the flow of these wastes by the appropriate transport and disposal, through the hiring of a regulated company, intermediated by the Government. The elaborate flowchart makes it possible for managers verify in a simplified way the risk of using asbestos-cement tiles (ACT) in low-income homes, by identifying ACT, checking their state of conservation, constructive characterization of the homes, and after associating the data, decision making on the need to collect atmospheric samples. The results of the amounts of fibers /cm³ define the measures, monitoring for (≤ 0.1 f/cm³) or for (> 0.1 f/cm³), risk management to Public and Environmental Health in the location. Technical safety instructions were adapted from the R U to the national reality, with the purpose of training public managers for asbestos removal actions in small areas of ACT (20m²) in regions where there is a risk of inhalation of asbestos fibers by the local population. Guidelines were developed covering the removal, handling, use of PPE, EPRs, signaling, cleaning, packaging, collection, transportation and disposal with occupational and environmental safety for the large projected demand of small volumes of asbestos-cement waste, generated in a diffuse, in the country's low-income housing. Therefore, it is urgent to insert the sustainable management of the ACMs in use and the ACWs in a safe manner, on the agenda of environmental and health public policies in the country. The asbestos removal of housing will be increasingly urgent due to the acceleration degradation of ACTs over time by climate change. Diagnosing the environmental conditions of the housing will help prevent health problems caused by the inhalation asbestos fibers. The training of managers through technical instructions provides a partnership for the asbestos removal of low-income housing and reduces the irregular disposal of ACW, while new technological routes must be established for their return to the consumer market, mitigating the disposal in class I landfills. Measures aligned with sustainable development goals, SDG 12 for responsible consumption and production.