Asbestos still blighting Poland

According to Polish and EU law, all construction products containing asbestos must be placed in designated depots by 2032.

Two years after a government program was launched to achieve this aim, just one percent of the country's asbestos is now in safe storage.

To date, zł.100 million has been spent on handling asbestos in Poland, with the total cost estimated at zł.48 billion.

According to estimates by the Ministry of Economy and Labor, there are some 15.5 tonnes of asbestos products in Poland. However, by the end of last year only 160,000 tonnes had been brought to depots.

The Ministry says that 84 depots are needed to deal with the hazardous waste, but only 25 have been built, which means it is very costly to dispose of the material. The majority of asbestos products are found in the Lubelskie and Mazowieckie voivodships, with more than two million tonnes in each region.

The biggest problem facing municipalities and housing co-operatives is a lack of funding to properly deal with asebstos disposal. The Voiovodship Environmental Protection Fund and the Environmental Protection Bank both offer preferential credit, but interest in such credits is minimal.

To deal with the problem, municipalities may use EU structural funds for new investments and for revitalizing city centers.