Asbestos waste in Australia

Asbestos waste data in Australia

Asbestos waste data estimates for Australia are updated as part of national hazardous waste reporting to the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

State and territory governments capture asbestos waste disposal data from their tracking systems for hazardous waste and/or reports from licensed landfill operators. Data was provided by these governments for 2022-23 and for previous years from 2006-07. In total, over this time period, approximately 14.7 million tonnes of asbestos containing waste has been disposed of in Australia.

The Asbestos waste data in Australia – 2022-23 Annual Update infographic provides the most recent data summary.

This year we are moving closer to an improved national picture of the quantity of asbestos waste. This is because most major states can now report quantities of packaged asbestos-containing material (ACM, such as asbestos cement sheets) separately from waste contaminated with ACM (such as soil and rubble).

ASSEA will now commence reporting on the two recording methods separately to provide a more accurate national picture, and to encourage further progress towards harmonised national asbestos waste recording methods.

To facilitate accurate monitoring of asbestos waste quantities, and to assist future infrastructure planning, ASSEA encourages states and territories to report wrapped ACM separately from soil and rubble contaminated with ACM.

Asbestos stocks and flows

In 2021, the 2015 Australian Stocks and Flows Model for Asbestos was updated to reflect new information from literature and industry experts. The Asbestos stocks and flows estimates in Australia 2021 infographic provides a summary.

The updated model allows for improved annual estimates on:

• Stocks: the amount of legacy asbestos remaining in the built environment.
• Flows: the quantities of ACMs reaching the end of their productive life, and becoming waste, or are in disuse.

The national model provides best estimate results to enable examination of asbestos stocks and flows, now and into the future.

Previous ASEA Research

The Asbestos Waste in Australia report was commissioned by the agency and published in 2016 to help improve understanding of asbestos waste and the future demands for safe disposal of ACMs.

In this study, it was estimated that the volume of asbestos waste needing to be disposed is likely to grow by about 2.8 per cent a year for the next 20 years prompting the need for action by all levels of government.