Consortium launches full-scale, closed-loop PFAS solution

Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based environmental services provider Heritage-Crystal Clean Inc. has formed a partnership with Allonnia, Revive Environmental and EPOC Enviro to launch 4never, which the partners say is a closed-loop per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) remediation solution for the landfill and industrial waste management markets.  

“The 4never solution offers landfill operators and manufacturers a cost-effective and compliant approach to managing PFAS contaminated leachate and wastewaters,” says Crystal-Clean’s President and CEO Brian Recatto.   

According to a news release from Crystal-Clean, 4never unites the PFAS remediation steps of separation, concentration, transportation and destruction to provide an effective and environmentally responsible solution for landfill operators and the industrial market.  

The solution combines Surface Active Foam Fractionation (SAFF) technology, exclusively distributed by Allonnia, a Boston-based company, and manufactured by EPOC Enviro, an environmental engineering firm based in North Carolina, with Columbus, Ohio-based Revive Environmental's PFAS Annihilator to provide a complete PFAS elimination process, the companies say.  

Heritage-Crystal Clean is the exclusive distributor and operator of the solution to the private landfill and industrial waste treatment markets, serving clients through its nationwide network of branches and waste treatment facilities.  

"Allonnia is proud to work with Crystal Clean and our technology partners, combining SAFF and PFAS Annihilator to create a solution for the North American market that permanently destroys what has been labeled a forever chemical,” says Allonia CEO Nicole Richards. “It is impressive how the landfill market has embraced the PFAS removal challenge, and it's been incredible to work with other innovators passionate about solving our most challenging environmental problems.”  

The consortium says 4never helps landfill operators and manufacturers improve their sustainability footprint by removing and destroying PFAS before discharge to their local municipal wastewater treatment systems.  

The hub-and-spoke model begins with a SAFF unit at the generating source. Crystal-Clean will provide, operate and service the SAFF unit, which separates and concentrates PFAS contaminants from waste streams. The company will then transport the separated PFAS hyper-concentrate to one of its wastewater treatment facilities, where Revive Environmental’s PFAS Annihilator unit will destroy the PFAS.  

“Revive Environmental is excited to bring its patented, enabling technology to this partnership,” says Revive Environmental President and CEO David Trueba. “The PFAS Annihilator is the culmination of years of development and the leading way to destroy PFAS with the confidence that can only be realized through world-class scientific research.”  

Crystal-Cleanwill also will implement the SAFF technology at its own commercial wastewater treatment facilities to further concentrate other PFAS-contaminated waste streams before destruction using the PFAS Annihilator. Crystal-Clean says the solution will be offered by the consortium as a service, where customers will pay a fixed cost per gallon.