Half of schools with asbestos certificate in need of urgent asbestos removal
More than half of the schools in Flanders with an asbestos certificate are in urgent need of asbestos removal, according to Flemish Environment minister Jo Brouns. In addition, only one in five schools surveyed is asbestos safe.
A new sample of asbestos certificates shows that asbestos needs to be urgently removed from 53 per cent of schools, according to Flemish Environment minister Jo Brouns. In an earlier pilot project involving some 300 schools, the figure was 27 per cent.
Aditionally, only one in five of the schools surveyed are considered 'asbestos safe', meaning that they either contain no asbestos or only asbestos materials that pose a low risk to health or the environment. By comparison, 60 per cent of other types of buildings in Flanders are considered asbestos safe.
Too few applications
The actual statistics could be even worse, as less than half of the almost 6,000 schools in Flanders have had an asbestos certificate issued in the last seven years. It is therefore unclear whether this percentage applies to all schools in Flanders, according to Brouns, who reiterated the importance of these certificates.
The Flemish Public Waste Agency (OVAM) will therefore launch a new call for schools to apply for an asbestos certificate on Monday. The agency provides financial support to schools with this certificate to make their infrastructure asbestos-safe. To date, 11 million euros have been paid out to schools for this purpose.
Asbestos-free by 2040
The Flemish government aims to make Flanders completely asbestos-free by 2040. According to an estimate by OVAM in 2019, 2.3 million tonnes of asbestos were present in buildings in Flanders at that time, including 114,000 tonnes in older school buildings.
As the inhalation of asbestos fibres can lead to asbestos diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis. As young lungs are particularly susceptible, the government declared the education sector as a priority target group.
On Wednesday, the Flemish Parliament unanimously approved a resolution that calls on the government to strengthen and speed up the asbestos removal policy. The parliament also wants to seek legal advice on the possibility of a decree to make former producers contribute to asbestos clean-up.
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO SISKA GREMMELPREZ
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