Clean Harbors demonstrates successful destruction of PFAS surpassing EPA standards

Clean Harbors Inc., Norwell, Massachusetts, has reported study results demonstrating that the company’s commercial high-temperature, RCRA- (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act-) permitted incineration facilities safely and effectively can destroy multiple forms of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

The study, “PFAS Destruction by a Hazardous Waste Incinerator: Testing Results,” and its findings were published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development. Testing was conducted in collaboration with officials from the EPA and U.S. Department of Defense at a Clean Harbors facility in November 2024, and protocols for the test were an extension of previous testing conducted in 2021 and 2022 using EPA standards.

“In recent years, scientific evidence has repeatedly proven the adverse health effects of many of these PFAS chemicals," Clean Harbors co-CEO Mike Battles says.

"The EPA and other federal and state regulatory authorities have begun establishing frameworks to protect human health from the impacts of these compounds. We partnered directly with the EPA for our recent testing to ensure that we not only met their latest standards but gathered the most comprehensive data to help regulators develop effective new regulations for PFAS and protect the country from its health impacts.”

Researchers sought to demonstrate that high-temperature combustion (2,000-2,200 F) safely and effectively could destruct PFAS compounds while simultaneously testing for the EPA’s new OTM-50 and 0010 emission standards. They conducted sampling and analysis for key PFAS compounds, as well as any residual volatile or semivolatile elements. Data reviewed the incinerator’s process waste feed streams, solid and liquid process residue streams and stack gases.

Key findings include:

• most PFAS (99.999 percent) were destroyed completely or mineralized;
• no products of incomplete destruction were observed;
• upon C2F6 injection, no C2F6 was measured in the stack; and
• destruction efficiencies surpassed 99.99 percent.

“These study results further validate that we can safely and thoroughly destroy a wide variety of PFAS compounds in our high-temperature RCRA-permitted hazardous waste incinerators,” Clean Harbors co-CEO Eric Gerstenberg says. “We have always been confident in the capabilities of our facilities as it relates to PFAS compounds. There has been misinformation around incineration and whether it is safe to destroy PFAS. We excelled using both OTM-50 and 0010: the EPA’s strictest and newest testing standards for PFAS. We are the only company to have achieved that designation. Most importantly, we demonstrated with certainty that we can effectively eliminate the threat from forever chemicals in its multiple forms and at commercial scale with consistent outcomes.”

Test results were reviewed and validated by Melvin E. Kenner, Ph.D., executive director for the Ashburn, Virginia-based Coalition for Responsible Waste Incineration, and Jens Blotevogel, Ph.D., a principal research scientist at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, based in Australia.

“Based on the results of this latest rigorous study, we continue to view our end-to-end solution and thermal destruction at our RCRA-permitted facilities as the safest and most viable option for addressing and eliminating PFAS, which in total represents a massive market opportunity in the years ahead,” Battles says. “The study data supports the confidence we have in our technology and state-of-the-art air pollution and emission controls; the study results should dispel any lingering doubts about PFAS incineration.”