- Department:Comprehensive Planning Division
The “Inter-Departmental Joint Asbestos Management Results Presentation” held by the Ministry of Environment took place on November 6, 2024. Apart from the Resource Circulation Administration, the National Environmental Research Academy, and the Chemicals Administration under the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Labor, and the environmental bureaus of Tainan City and Changhua County also participated in this grand event. The objective of this event was to provide a platform for the government to share their efforts and achievements in reducing asbestos hazards, as well as related policy outcomes. In the speech, Minister of the Environment Peng Chi-ming highlighted that the country’s effort in asbestos managementare beginning to show positive results. He not only expressed gratitude towards the agencies involved for their support and cooperation in the process, but also reaffirmed the government's commitment to addressing various environmental challenges and advancing its vision for environmental sustainability.
Minister Peng Chi-ming stated that, asbestos was widely used in the past due to its excellent fire-resistant, insulating, and wear-resistant properties. However, as the harmful effects of asbestos became increasingly evident, the government gradually imposed more strict controls on its use. Regulating asbestos is a crucial responsibility and, in 1989, our country’s environmental department officially classified asbestos as a toxic chemical substance. Between 1991 and 2017, the government implemented several amendments to relevant regulations to progressively restrict the use of asbestos. In 2018, the use of asbestos was fully banned, ruling out research, testing, and educational purposes. Starting from May 2023, the importation of asbestos-containing products was also restricted. In June 2023, the Chemical Administration collaborated with the Ministry of Finance’s customs department to reinforce border inspections, preventing the entry of asbestos-containing products. Besides, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the Ministry of Labor have each introduced regulations to strengthen control over asbestos use.
Since asbestos had been widely used across a broad range of industries in the past, the Chemical Administration of the Ministry of Environment has held 14 interdepartmental meetings and organized 50 sessions of the Inter-Departmental Joint Asbestos Hazard Awareness Briefing through out the years. This year, the results presentation brought together various government agencies to showcase their achievements, including but not limited to the Ministry of Environment’s presentation on asbestos source management, testing, waste management, and asbestos roof investigation results; the Ministry of the Interior’s work on the “Management of Demolition and Construction of Asbestos-Containing Buildings” and the “Research on Asbestos Detection Techniques in Building Materials”; the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ “Asbestos Product Management and Testing Standards”; and the Ministry of Labor’s “Promotion of Asbestos Hazards and Prevention in Enterprises” and the “Investigation and Cohort Study of Occupational Diseases Among Workers Exposed to Asbestos”; and so on.
Among these, the asbestos tile roof investigation is one of the most notable outcomes of the their works. Although the use of asbestos has been banned, it was a common building material in the past, and therefore still exists in many old buildings. To investigate existing asbestos tile roofs, the Chemical Administration has, since 2020, used multi-scale remote sensing data to map the distribution of asbestos tile roofs and calculate their quantity nationwide using advanced technology. This approach has saved time and budget compared to manual surveys and has earned recognition, including the 5th Government Service Award, the TGOS Value-Added Application Award, and the 2023 Smart City Innovative Application Award, among others. The investigation results were also handed over to the Resource Circulation Administration to serve as the basis for the asbestos removal subsidy policy.
The Resource Circulation Administration had secured a budget of NT$160,000,000 from the Executive Yuan. Residents wishing to renovate or demolish asbestos tile roofs could submit a subsidy application, where the government would entrust a vendor to handle the disposal with a fee of NT$45,000 per ton. As of October 2024, the Chemical Administration had accepted 7,545 cases with a cumulative weight of 7,364 tons. The Resource Circulation Administration also subsidized local governments to notify and investigate over 200,000 buildings with asbestos tile roofs. Additionally, the “Principles of Waste Asbestos Building Material Disposal and Subsidy Operations” were amended in June 2024. In addition to the originally subsidized households and non-commercial private buildings, the scope was expanded to include commercial private buildings that had suspended operations or factories that had shut down. The environmental bureaus of Tainan City and Changhua County, which demonstrated strong implementation performance, were also invited to share their successful results.
Finally, to help people understand more about the adverse effects of using asbestos, the Chemical Administration of the Environmental Education Department launched the interdepartmental 'Asbestos Information Zone' website. By gathering professional knowledge from several government agencies, the website provides convenient access to relevant information for general public who are interested in this topic. Link to website
