SoilEx received an inquiry to remove 2000 tons of soil impacted with asbestos fragments. Soil testing initially showed low levels of asbestos fibers, classifying the soil as non-hazardous waste. However, the client wanted to treat it as hazardous waste to avoid misclassification risks. SoilEx proposed on-site management including targeted testing, picking out fragments, and accurate classification to save costs. This resulted in 80% of soil being correctly classified as non-hazardous, saving over £70,000 or nearly 50% of the original budget.

1. SoilEx Environmental originally received an enquiry from a Tier 1 contractor to
price for the remove of circa 2000 tonnes of soils impacted with asbestos
fragments and requiring disposal as hazardous waste. Upon review of the soil
data for the site it was noted by SoilEx that the results only showed low level
asbestos fibres and no chemcial contamination in the soils and so could be
classified as Non-hazardous waste.
When liaising with the client they mentioned that during trial pitting some
asbestos fragments had been noted in the soils and as the soils had yet to
be excavated and there were many unknowns they were looking to deal with
the waste on a worst case scenario basis to avoid mis-classification and risk.
Further to this conversation it was proposed by SoilEx that we could employ
a robust on-site waste management process, and with the appropriate
measures in place ensure a more accurate waste classification and
potentially a large cost saving for the client. These measures included:
- A trained asbestos operative to oversee the excavation and loading of all
waste soils to ensure accurate classification
- Any asbestos fragments were picked, double bagged and placed in a
lockable skip on site prior to disposal
- Targetted re-testing of the soils as the excavation progressed to ensure
accurate ongoing waste classification
- Disposal of any loads with excessive asbestos fragments that could not be
picked as hazardous waste to a suitable off site treatment facility
- Accurate ticketting of all waste
The end result was that all excavated soils left site with the correct
classification and were disposed of at an appropriate waste facility. 80% of
these loads were taken as Non-hazardous, making our client a cost saving of
over £70,000, nearly 50% of the original budget showing that improved
process and compliance can also mean major cost savings.
Client
Winter 2019/20
Services
West London Car Park
Date
SoilEx.co.uk 0845 054 3554