Management of asbestos-cement in excavated earths

The design and adoption of suitable treatments for contaminated/uncontaminated fractions contained in excavated soils is usually carried out in order to reduce resource consumption and waste disposal. In this work, an ad-hoc designed process for separating asbestos-cement fragments from excavated soils and earths is proposed. It is based on a sequence of mechanical treatments and different analytical approaches to evaluate decontamination. The paper is focused on sampling and analytical issues, together with critical safety measures that are needed in order to reduce the release of airborne fibers.