The Challenge

Asbestos-cement products are one of the most persistent legacy hazards in the built environment, combining high health risks with difficult end‑of‑life management.

Asbestos refers to a group of naturally occurring mineral fibres formerly prized for their durability and heat resistance. Throughout the twentieth century, these qualities led to the widespread use of asbestos in building materials for the likes of roofing, cladding, and pipes. (World Health Organization, 2024).

Exposure to airborne asbestos fibres causes fatal diseases, including lung and larynx cancer and mesothelioma, leading to over 200,000 deaths annually worldwide (World Health Organization, 2024). Despite bans in many countries, global asbestos mining continues, with around 1.3 million tonnes produced in 2023 (UNEP, 2024). Many countries still rely on landfilling asbestos-containing materials, which locks future liability into the ground and occupies scarce disposal capacity.

Asbestos-cement products remain a persistent legacy issue in Ireland’s built environment, where many pre-2000 buildings still contain asbestos materials posing serious public health risks (Health and Safety Authority, 2017). Despite being banned since 2004, asbestos fibres continue to threaten workers and residents during refurbishment or demolition activities unless tightly controlled (OHSS, 2025). Ireland’s asbestos waste is classified as hazardous and requires special handling and disposal at EPA-licensed facilities. However, domestic landfill capacity for asbestos is limited, often requiring export or transfer to facilities overseas (EPA, 2021). Ireland is currently preparing for the EU Asbestos Directive’s implementation in Dec 2025, which will further strengthen exposure limits, monitoring, and training requirements to improve worker safety (EHS International, 2025)

A Circular Solution

Founded in 2018 in the Netherlands, Asbeter developed its AC Minerals process and commercialized it in 2022 to safely treat asbestos cement by alkaline dissolution (Asbeter, 2024).

The AC Minerals process involves breaking down asbestos cement waste by shredding and milling it into small fragments inside a sealed environment with water. The resulting slurry is then heated below 100C which creates a chemical reaction in which the asbestos fibres chemically transform until they are completely neutralized and no longer pose a hazard (BBC Future, 2024). The process recovers valuable raw materials such as calcium silicate and calcium carbonate from the treated waste, which can then be reused in industries like cement and concrete manufacturing. This innovative technique aims to safely and effectively transform hazardous asbestos waste into reusable materials, addressing a major challenge in global asbestos disposal (Asbeter, 2025). 

This approach offers a promising alternative to hazardous asbestos landfill, enabling recycling into circular construction inputs, reducing landfill reliance and health risks.

Climate Impact

Asbeter was issued an end-of-waste certificate by the Dutch Environment Agency (DCMR, 2023) and the independent testing agency, Det Norske Veritas, also issued a verification statement confirming that their process completely dissolves asbestos fibres from asbestos-containing materials, resulting in an asbestos-free residue (DNV, 2023). Asbeter plans to build a plant capable of processing 25,000 tonnes a year, growing to 75,000 tonnes a year (BBC Future, 2024).

By safely neutralizing asbestos fibres and producing a non-hazardous residue, the AC Minerals process eliminates the need for hazardous asbestos waste landfilling. If implemented in Ireland, a similar solution could significantly reduce the environmental risks associated with asbestos disposal while keeping valuable mineral materials in circulation. Moreover, by making the waste safe, it could substantially lower the high shipping and remediation costs currently required to transport hazardous asbestos waste off-island for disposal, leading to economic and environmental benefits through more local processing and circular reuse.

Replicability

The green building materials market was valued at USD 285.89 billion in 2024, projected to grow by 8.5% annually through 2030 (Grand View Research, 2025).

Asbeter’s method illustrates a replicable circular economy solution to manage legacy asbestos waste while producing low-carbon construction feedstock for the built environment’s transition (Asbeter, 2024).

Addressing asbestos is critical: asbestos exposure accounted for 78% of occupational cancers in the EU in 2019, with approximately 70,000 workers still exposed today (European Commission, 2022). This underscores the urgent need for safe and scalable asbestos waste management solutions.

Another company working on a circular solution for asbestos is Thermal Recycling in the UK. The company uses high-temperature processing to convert asbestos cement into inert mineral materials, achieving end-of-waste status and enabling reuse.