Asbestos disposal

Katykat

Our builder removed some asbestos sheets from the roof sofits. He told us to ring the council as he is not licensed for disposal. We were told ( quite tersely) that the builder HAS to remove it and he should know this. Now we're stuck between 2 stones and dont know what to do with it. The woman from the council wouldn't even tell us how to dispose of it, just said " tell your builder to do it" Its white asbestos

googler

Call an Asbestos Removal Contractor, or get the builder to do so.

Did the builder take all the appropriate precautions when removing it to prevent spreading dust all over the place? Should he have removed it, if he's not licenced to do so?

http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/regulations.htm

"The requirements for licensed work remain the same: in the majority of cases, work with asbestos needs to be done by a licensed contractor. This work includes most asbestos removal, all work with sprayed asbestos coatings and asbestos lagging and most work with asbestos insulation and asbestos insulating board (AIB)."

jimbo_the_jetset

Our local tip accepts asbestos sheeting from personal disposal. Must be double wrapped in plastic and it put in a special bin at the tip.

Refer to the waste/recycling page of your local Authority website.

The builder will want you to do it as it would cost him to put it in the same place whereas you pay your council tax for this. The Council won't give any advice once you mention the word 'builder'

Katykat

I am so annoyed. I've rung the council back and unfortunately got through to the same snooty woman. She said she spoke to my husband earlier today and her advice has not changed since then. She said " we cant help you, the asbestos is classed as trade waste as the builder removed it, not us. If we had removed it, then we could take it to the tip if it was bagged". I am of a mind to either just bag it and tip it, or stick it in the skip. No wonder people dump things on the roadside when you've got jobsworthies like that.

Niv

Katykat wrote: »

I am so annoyed. I've rung the council back and unfortunately got through to the same snooty woman. She said she spoke to my husband earlier today and her advice has not changed since then. She said " we cant help you, the asbestos is classed as trade waste as the builder removed it, not us. If we had removed it, then we could take it to the tip if it was bagged". I am of a mind to either just bag it and tip it, or stick it in the skip. No wonder people dump things on the roadside when you've got jobsworthies like that.

Please dont dump it in a non asbestos skip. Double bag it and take it to your local recycling centre.

and FYI to an earlier post, asbestos cement sheets (which I have assumed this is as the OP said its white asbestos) does not require a licence to remove.

Niv

manda1205

What council do you come under? Have a look on their website, that is where I found our local council asbestos removal section. I think it's a bit naughty of the woman telling you that, because Im pretty sure the council have to be able to take any of your rubbish, even asbestos, what if you were doing the work yourself then what would you do, she just probably doesn't know where you should be calling. Our council will take it, same as above, as long as its double wrapped in thick black sacks and they charge us £50 (upto a certain weight then its per something).

ic

The person at fault here is not the woman at the council, it is your builder. He should be paying to dispose of this waste, and should have included the costs in the job hes charging to you. We don't all pay council tax so that your builder can get out of paying waste disposal fees.

Niv

manda1205 wrote: »

What council do you come under? Have a look on their website, that is where I found our local council asbestos removal section. I think it's a bit naughty of the woman telling you that, because Im pretty sure the council have to be able to take any of your rubbish, even asbestos, what if you were doing the work yourself then what would you do, she just probably doesn't know where you should be calling. Our council will take it, same as above, as long as its double wrapped in thick black sacks and they charge us £50 (upto a certain weight then its per something).

With many councils, if you undertake this sort of work yourself, you are able to take the waste (double bagged) to the local HWRC. From what I gather, it is not massively common for councils to pick up asbestos waste from domestic properties.

Niv

Katykat

The latest update. I rang the environmental agency and they were helpful. Told me that it wasn't as dangerous as rumoured and as long as it is double bagged, it could be taken to a local tip as long as it has a facility for disposal. This is where it gets really annoying. I emailed the local tip to ask this question and lo and behold I got a reply from the same woman. She said " I reiterate my earlier advice, you must ring a licensed disposal expert" The thing that is annoying me most (apart from her lofty attitude) is that she told me that if WE had removed it ourselves, then we could use the tip, but because the builder removed it, then " the council cant help us". Its very frustrating as we are only trying to follow guidelines

Ruski

Well unless 'snooty' sits by the gate side at the tip I wouldn't worry - just do as the agency has told you - bag it and take it to the appropriate skip.

Russ

manda1205

Niv wrote: »

With many councils, if you undertake this sort of work yourself, you are able to take the waste (double bagged) to the local HWRC. From what I gather, it is not massively common for councils to pick up asbestos waste from domestic properties.

Niv

Sorry I didn't mean they'll actually come and take it, I meant our main council tip will take it, it's actually the large county one, rather than all the smaller tips. But ours (Norfolk) were very helpful when I rang them and it was certainly no problem for them to receive it. Doesn't help the OP though, if I were you I would now pretend to be someone else, saying that you want to take it.