Starting December 18, recycling centres throughout the Cowichan Valley Regional District will no longer accept drywall from the public, citing health and safety concerns as the reason why.
To check if your drywall has asbestos, you need a sample of drywall, the size of a toonie, contained to a ziplock bag, and take it to Fisher Road Recycling in Cobble Hill to determine whether or not asbestos exposure is a risk.
Manager of the Solid Waste and Recycling Division with the C.V.R.D., Tauseef Waraich says recycling facilities are not capable of dealing with drywall.
Waraich says bringing untested drywall to the recycling centres isn’t good for anyone, particularly C.V.R.D. staff.
Drywall can contain asbestos and while you can’t see asbestos, if it gets into your lungs, it can cause fatal cancer that affects the lining of your lungs.
You can take your drywall to Northwest Environmental in Nanaimo or Victoria for testing, and once its date-stamped 1990 or later and accompanied by a laboratory certificate it can be sent to Fisher Road Recycling.
If you get your drywall tested and it’s determined that it contains asbestos, Waraich says staff at Fisher Road will deal with the drywall separately.
