How green is Asbestos?

~ Greencard for: Asbestos ~
	Weight:	1	Kg
	Lifespan:	100	Years
	Enegy to make:	N/A	Kwh
	Energy use:	0	Kwh per year
	Co2 footprint	N/A	Kg
	Chemical footprint:		Low
	Waste footprint:	60	%
	Carbon offset:	N/A	Trees

Asbestos has a unique chemical composition and physical properties which make it suitable for use in thousands of products, cement reinforcing, insulation boards, floor tiles, rope, roofing sheets, sewage pipes and much more.

What goes into Asbestos

Asbestos is made from fibrous silicate minerals, the most common of which are: Chrysotile (white asbestos), Crocidolite (blue asbestos )and Amosite (brown asbestos). White asbestos is the most common, making up around 95%, in 1994, 5,000 tonnes of white asbestos was imported into the UK.

Chemical contamination

Asbestos can be found naturally in the air outdoors and in some drinkable water, including water from natural sources. Tests have shown that many thousands of asbestos particles can be found in everyone's lungs. Asbestos exposure becomes a health concern when high concentrations of asbestos fibers are inhaled over a long time period. People who become ill from inhaling asbestos are often those who are exposed on a day-to-day basis in a job where they worked directly with the material. As a person's exposure to fibers increases, then that person's risk of disease also increases. Disease is very unlikely to result from a single, high-level exposure, or from a short period of exposure to lower levels

Recycling and material recovery

Asbestos can be converted into other less toxic materials by thermal decomposition, at 1250 °C a mixture of non-hazardous silicates are produced, and at temperatures above 1250 °C asbestos is converted to silicate glass. Microwave thermal treatment can be used in an industrial manufacturing process to transform asbestos and asbestos-containing waste into porcelain stoneware tiles, porous single-fired wall tiles, and ceramic bricks.

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