Disaster waste management and communications

Problem

The frequency and severity of natural disasters is predicted to increase. Natural disasters like fires and flooding can damage asbestos-containing materials that were previously safe, which increases the potential for fibres to become airborne.

During natural disasters local and state government agencies need to scale up their activities quickly and work within the State Emergency Management Plan framework. The management of asbestos waste in these incidents involves collaboration and preparation on many levels.

A response involves multiple agencies and contractors managing the safe and legal removal of large amounts of waste quickly. All parts of the response system need to know how to act and collaborate closely. This includes communicating information about asbestos sensitively to people who are affected by the trauma of disasters.

Outcomes sought

• Local and state government agencies can safely dispose of disaster waste.
• Communities impacted by disasters and emergencies know how to safely manage asbestos.
• There is consistent messaging across response and recovery agencies about asbestos.

Key issues to address

• Clear and consistent information about property hazards including asbestos needs to be available to the community quickly once they return to their properties. ASEA reviewed national disaster asbestos waste communications in June 2021 and found that this has historically been inconsistent, out-of-date, not easily found and was slow to be disseminated.
• There needs to be enough disposal capacity in NSW to handle waste from disasters. Often waste disposal facilities are affected by the same disaster, meaning other options need to be available to quickly and safely manage large amounts of asbestos disaster waste, Strategic planning for waste solutions led by local communities to develop regional solutions may be a way forward.
• Response agencies need to know how to safely and legally handle disaster asbestos waste. While the emergency management framework has plans in place at a high level, there is a need for more detailed operational planning. This is particularly complex because multiple agencies are involved in different aspects of the disaster response.