SUEZ extends its expertise in asbestos waste management and recovery

As part of their remediation activities, the teams of SUEZ Remediation France have undergone this demanding process and obtained certification allowing them to carry out work to remove asbestos as described in subsection 3¹.

The task was completed within a year. It involved setting up a team consisting of a technical supervisor, a site supervisor and two technicians, all approved under subsection 3, and a documentation system dedicated to the asbestos regulations. The certification was awarded for a two-year probationary period after two audits carried out by the certification body, QUALIBAT – one at head office and the other on site. SUEZ Remediation is therefore now able to manage soil contaminated with asbestos and remove pipework containing asbestos (excavation, conditioning, waste monitoring, disposal at a SUEZ hazardous waste storage facility).

One and a half thousand tonnes of rubble (soil, asbestos-containing waste) that needed to be treated as asbestos-contaminated soil were stored right next to the planned RER E rail route in Mantes-la-Jolie, threatening to delay work to extend the line into western Ile-de-France. In just a few weeks, the removal plan was drafted and submitted and the teams were deployed to excavate, condition, evacuate and dispose of the asbestos-contaminated soil at our hazardous waste storage site in Villeparisis.

In Belgium, and especially the Flanders Region, the public waste company OVAM has launched an ambitious programme for asbestos materials, aiming to eliminate any presence of these hazardous materials in buildings and the environment by 2030. To achieve this, it has been studying the presence of asbestos at sites following excavations over the last two years. As a result, soil treatment centres will have to deal with this new type of contaminant as well as other types of chemical pollution.

SUEZ Remediation teams can already meet this new challenge, thanks to our polluted soil treatment platform in Grimbergen, which produces washed sand for reuse. However, the presence of asbestos fragments in the coarsest fractions can significantly reduce the overall recycling rate. To overcome this, a pre-treatment facility is now being built to separate the incoming materials into different fractions. This will take place in an enclosed, contained area. The goal is to use sorting equipment to separate soils and elements containing asbestos. In accordance with health, safety and environmental rules, the possible presence of asbestos fibres will be monitored continuously and strict individual and collective protective measures will be applied throughout the process.

This combination of dry and wet separation techniques will enable a higher recycling rate, widening the scope of the asbestos-polluted soils and debris that can be accepted for appropriate treatment. As a result, only a limited amount of concentrated asbestos residue will need to be conditioned and sent to an appropriate landfill site.

Find out more about our integrated treatment platform for polluted soil in Grimbergen, Belgium: