The Agència de Residus de Catalunya (ARC) yesterday opened a new call for aid for the removal, at source, of waste insulation and construction materials that contain asbestos to be carried out under the optimal conditions, improve the environment and minimize the risk that this material poses to public health. This line, endowed with two million euros, is aimed at local bodies, public administrations and non-profit companies.
Public administrations and social enterprises that own real estate that contain asbestos elements from the construction and that promote their withdrawal will be able to benefit from the subsidy. The subsidy will cover 100% of the invoices submitted, with a maximum aid of one thousand euros per tonne of construction waste containing asbestos per subsidized action, without limiting the amount of (tons) generated in each requested asbestos removal action. . The amount includes the handling and removal of asbestos, and its transport, management and treatment through companies registered in the General Register of Waste Managers of Catalonia (RGPGRC).
Commitment to eradicate asbestos
The vast majority of asbestos waste arises from the demolition, repairs and removal of asbestos materials in buildings, facilities and machinery and must be collected separately from other waste that may be generate. At the end of last year, the Generalitat set up the Interdepartmental Commission for the Eradication of Asbestos in Catalonia, made up of representatives of the Presidency departments; Vice-Presidency and of Economy and Finance; Work, Social Affairs and Families; Health; Territory and Sustainability; Business and Knowledge; Education; as well as representatives of the Catalan Association of Municipalities and Counties; and the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia.
The aid published today is in line with the actions promoted by the commission, according to European regulations that pursue the safe disposal of asbestos. This product has been banned in Catalonia since 2001, although it is estimated that what is still installed is more than four million tons of fiber cement, much of which has arrived or is reaching the end of its life useful.