In most developed countries, asbestos is typically disposed of as hazardous waste in designated landfill sites.

The demolition of buildings containing large amounts of asbestos based materials pose particular problems for builders and property developers – such buildings often have to be deconstructed piece by piece, or the asbestos has to be painstakingly removed before the structure can be razed by mechanical or explosive means. One such example is the Red Road Flats in Glasgow, Scotland which used huge amounts of asbestos cement board for wall panelling – here British health and safety regulations stipulate that asbestos material has to be removed in specially adapted vehicles and taken to a landfill site with an appropriate permit to accept asbestos, via an approved route, at certain times of the day.