Corporate Growth Conference 2024: PFAS opportunities on the horizon

This year, the waste and recycling industry experienced many challenges regarding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

In April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was moving forward with its decision to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund. This move raised concerns amongst the industry as many felt the EPA did not adequately consider the economic impacts of landfill operators and recyclers that are passive receivers of PFAS, not generators.

Additionally, EPA announced maximum contaminant levels for six different PFAS compounds under the Safe Drinking Water Act and released updated guidance on destroying and disposing of PFAS as part of its PFAS Strategic Roadmap.

During the 2024 Corporate Growth Conference, held Nov. 20-21 in Chicago, Jay Cudmore, executive vice president of disposal services at Clean Harbors, Norwell, Massachusetts; Michael Jensen, senior counsel and director of regulatory affairs at WM, Houston; and Bryan Staley, president and CEO of the Environmental Research & Education Foundation, Raleigh, North Carolina, joined forces for an educational session focused on PFAS challenges and opportunities moderated by Michael E. Hoffman, president and CEO of the National Waste & Recycling Association.

The panel discussed the current state of the industry regarding PFAS, which it described as an “evolving patchwork quilt of regulations at both the federal and state levels.”

Approaching 2025 and an incoming Trump administration, and the likelihood of former New York congressman Lee Zeldin running EPA, the industry is forecasting the changes that could come in the new year and beyond, including updated PFAS regulations and business opportunities.

RELATED: Corporate Growth Conference 2024: Behind the curtain of Casella’s growth

“It is likely EPA will revisit the CERCLA hazardous substance designation of PFOA and PFOS … as CERCLA does not set a standard for how PFAS should be disposed of or handled on a prospective basis,” Jensen said. “It basically assigns liability looking backwards, and we think it is the wrong way to regulate because we have been disposing of PFAS in a lawful way for decades and now, through CERCLA, we could be on the hook for liability for acting in accordance with the law. We think CERCLA is the wrong way to approach regulation, but we’re not opposed to regulation entirely.”

Moving forward, the industry plans to continue to work with EPA on PFAS regulations, as well as with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who is expected to lead the Senate Environment and Public Works committee in the 119th Congress and has been supportive of providing some sort of relief for passive receivers of PFAS, including landfills.

On a state level, Cudmore said he thinks the states are likely to “be more aggressive and run at their own pace.” Adding to his thoughts, Jensen said PFAS policies do not always run along red versus blue lines, and he would not be surprised to see the states pursue their own policies, such as Oklahoma potentially revisiting its standards for materials with high concentrations of PFAS.

As these regulations discussions evolve, science continues to trail in the policy discussion, according to Staley. “In many respects, there are a lot more unanswered questions than answered questions,” he said. “For example, how many PFAS are out there? We are measuring about six from a regulatory standpoint, but what about the other thousands of compounds? How much PFAS is going into our landfills and recycling facilities, and how much risk is involved? The million-dollar question is how does PFAS manifest itself over time and what does that mean for the ultimate management of PFAS by the solid waste industry?”

As the industry continues to uncover scientific answers to these questions, panelists said the hope is that proper policy framework and continued advancements in technologies will follow. This, in turn, can lead to more opportunities for the industry.

For example, in conjunction with EPA and the U.S. Department of Defense, Clean Harbors recently completed its third stack emissions test at its Aragonite, Utah, facility. The test results are expected to be released in Q1 2025, but according to Cudmore and the results of the previous two studies, Clean Harbors has created a closed loop system to successfully destroy PFAS chemicals in its commercial facilities. This could lead to more destruction of PFAS chemicals in the years to come.

Additionally, the state of Ohio this year launched a first-of-its-kind initiative to destroy PFAS in firefighting foam. Via the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s new Aqueous Film-Forming Foam Takeback Program, Battelle’s PFAS Annihilator technology is used to destroy PFAS in firefighting foam to nondetectable levels through the process of supercritical water oxidation.

Despite these recent advancements, along with many others, the market currently has a tight capacity, Cudmore said. “But as the market evolves, and if the regulations on PFAS tighten, the market will get bigger,” he predicted.