Asbestos: Emissions
Why the cement it goes into dwarfs the mining footprint
What this tab covers The greenhouse-gas footprint of the commodity at a global level, split by lifecycle phase: extraction (or farming), refining and processing, movement, usage, and recycling or end of life. Intensities are per unit of product; the global total combines intensity with world output. Also covers other environmental impacts and the main levers to cut emissions.Per t of chrysotile fibre, cradle-to-gate (mine and mill). Intensity: none found. Global total: USGS MCS 2026.
Footprint by lifecycle phase
| Phase | Intensity | Share | Main sources of emissions | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extraction | not published | – | large open pits in serpentinite; diesel haulage of low-grade ore | fibre is a small share of rock mined, leaving large waste dumps | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Refining / processing | not published | – | electricity for crushing, drying and fibre separation | Russian and Kazakh grids are largely fossil-fuelled | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Movement | about 40-70 kg CO2e/t for 2,000-4,000 km of rail plus sea (derived, indicative) | – | rail from Kazakhstan and Russia to Central and South Asia; ships to Southeast Asia | rail about 0.029 kg CO2e per t-km (ERM 2010) | ERM for The Crown Estate, 2010 (derived) |
| Usage | about 2.8-3.5 t CO2 per t of fibre, embodied in the cement it is mixed with (derived) | – | each t of fibre at 8-10% dosage makes 10-12.5 t of sheet with about 4.5-5.6 t of cement | derived from IBM mix and 0.63 t CO2 per t cement (Columbia CKI 2026); the cement, not the fibre, dominates the product footprint | IBM; Columbia CKI 2026 (derived) |
| Recycling / end of life | not recycled | – | removal and landfilling under health controls | USGS reports no recycling; demolition waste is hazardous and costly to handle | USGS MCS 2026 |
Other environmental impacts
The dominant impact is health: asbestos causes mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis, and WHO estimates more than 200,000 deaths a year from occupational exposure (indicative). Serpentinite waste dumps can absorb CO2 slowly by natural carbonation, which researchers are testing as a carbon sink.
Levers to cut emissions
- Replace chrysotile with cellulose, PVA or other fibres, which removes the health hazard
- Use blended cement with more fly ash in fibre-cement sheets to cut embodied CO2
- Carbonate serpentinite tailings to store CO2 (research stage, not quantified)
- Manage legacy asbestos in buildings safely rather than by uncontrolled demolition
India
India has no working mine but imported 308,506 t of fibre in 2020-21 (63% from Russia), mostly for roofing sheets (IBM). At 2.8-3.5 t CO2 per t of fibre in the cement of those sheets, that implies roughly 0.9-1.1 Mt CO2 a year (derived, indicative).
Emission figures are indicative global averages from the life-cycle studies named; actual footprints vary widely by site, energy mix and method.