Reworld launches full-scale thermal destruction service for PFAS-containing materials

Reworld has launched its ReAssure PFAS Destruction service, offering full-scale destruction capacity for PFAS-containing materials across municipal, commercial, and industrial waste streams. 

Globally, the scale of the PFAS challenge is enormous. If society is serious about addressing the issue, the solution is destruction, not indefinite storage in landfills that shifts the burden to future generations. 

ReAssure meets that need by providing recyclers with access to approximately 17 million tons of processing capacity through Thermomechanical Treatment Facilities (TTFs) available in all major markets in the U.S., delivering the scale necessary to address PFAS-containing waste. 

Reworld TTFs process waste at temperatures above 1,100°C (2,012°F), widely cited as effective for PFAS destruction. Testing campaigns at Reworld TTFs have demonstrated 99 percent destruction and removal of PFAS at a processing capacity scale over 17 times greater than hazardous waste incineration — a capability no other company can offer.

Managing PFAS waste streams 

Through ReAssure, Reworld also provides access to 50+ material processing facilities (MPFs), which prepare non-bulk PFAS wastes for delivery to TTFs, extending their geographical and market reach. 

Additionally, ReAssure includes wastewater treatment with activated carbon, coordinated logistics services, and other related services. This comprehensive approach enables Reworld to work with companies that have PFAS in products, residuals, and mixed materials, significantly expanding the universe of PFAS-containing waste streams that can be responsibly managed. 

Thermal destruction is built on three Ts: time, turbulence, and temperature. Reworld adds two more: turnkey and traceability; the ability to manage PFAS from pickup to final destruction through a single provider, with documented chain-of-custody every step of the way. 

Why does PFAS need to be destroyed, rather than stored? 

PFAS exposure is widespread. These compounds have been used in tens of thousands of products since their creation in the 1930s, including those common in our daily lives. Designed to be highly stable and resistant, they don't break down, earning them the name "forever chemicals."

In addition, PFAS compounds are highly toxic, ubiquitous, bioaccumulate, and highly soluble in water, allowing them to move quickly through the environment. In fact, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry identified that "nearly all people in the U.S. have PFAS in their blood," based on CDC tests dating back to 1999. All these issues combined make PFAS contamination one of the biggest environmental challenges the world has ever faced.

Permanent solutions are needed to remove PFAS from circulation when materials reach end-of-life. To address this pressing environmental challenge, Reworld is moving beyond studies and small-scale pilots by offering full-scale destruction capacity across municipal, commercial, and industrial waste streams. The launch of ReAssure follows a series of rigorous testing campaigns and published research demonstrating the efficacy of the TTF high-temperature process. 

Recent testing programs at TTFs in Pennsylvania and Minnesota have produced consistent findings: PFAS compounds were generally non-detectable or measured at very low concentrations in stack emissions, and well below ambient air quality standards. Based on published ranges of PFAS in the waste stream, TTFs are achieving PFAS removal efficiencies of 99 percent and higher. A comprehensive report on collaborative testing with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected in the near future. 

"To effectively solve the problem, PFAS cannot be contained, stored, or managed indefinitely; they must be destroyed. Every other strategy is a temporary measure that shifts a growing liability into the future," said Azeez Mohammed, president and CEO of Reworld. "ReAssure is an effective, reliable solution that ends the cycle permanently and verifiably by processing and destroying PFAS in a wide variety of waste streams at scale. At Reworld, PFAS destruction is one of our superpowers, helping protect communities and the environment from persistent contaminants."

PFAS-contaminated materials cause ongoing issues for landfill operations

For years, landfills have been the default destination for PFAS-containing materials. But landfilling does not destroy PFAS; it simply stores it. Rainwater passing through waste can create PFAS-containing leachate, which is often sent to wastewater treatment plants not designed to manage these compounds. Recent peer-reviewed research shows that PFAS is also released through landfill gas emissions, making full-scale destruction an increasingly important part of the solution.

The Reworld network of MPFs and TTFs helps address a growing gap in the waste industry. PFAS is being captured and concentrated in byproducts such as landfill leachate, biosolids, sludges, and treatment residuals. Landfill operators and publicly owned treatment works are often left managing these materials, but do not have the assets needed to take them through final destruction. Reworld is stepping in with the infrastructure to manage PFAS-containing liquids and solids, handle resulting residuals, and provide full-scale destruction capabilities through its TTF network. For wastewater, that means Reworld can help close the loop by managing PFAS-containing liquids and routing spent carbon, filter media, treatment residues, and other byproducts to its TTFs for destruction.

"We are not in the business of transferring PFAS from one liability to another. Our infrastructure is built to break the chain at scale," summarized Mohammed.