On-site solution destroys PFAS to non-detectable levels

The PFAS Annihilator^™ by Revive Environmental is now doing the job it was invented to do—it’s on the ground destroying per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals in landfill leachate at a wastewater treatment facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan owned by Heritage-Crystal Clean. This full-scale, commercial deployment of the PFAS Annihilator is handling concentrated waste from more than 160,000 gallons of leachate per day and is the first permitted solution in the United States. The PFAS Annihilator is answering America’s burgeoning PFAS contamination problem and even comes with a certificate of destruction.

Originally designed as an armor coating in the 1940s, PFAS—widely known as “forever chemicals”—have been adapted for use in a wide array of consumer and industrial products such as non-stick cookware, stain-resistant textiles, paint, metal plating, food packaging, and firefighting foams. The PFAS chemicals in these products seep into the environment including our soil, water, and food supply. In 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified more than 120,000 U.S. locations where people may be exposed to PFAS. Scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals.

“We are providing a solution for this significant challenge,” said Revive President and CEO David Trueba. “Our mission is to globally restore communities’ confidence by safely and permanently destroying PFAS contamination.”

The deployment comes a year after Battelle successfully demonstrated a smaller-scale, pilot version of the PFAS Annihilator at the same location in Grand Rapids. Battelle scientists and researchers have been developing methods of detecting and combatting PFAS contamination for two decades, and in the past five years worked intensively to invent a system to completely destroy PFAS chemicals.

Since that demonstration, Battelle developed a full-scale version of the PFAS Annihilator and realized the need to get to market with speed, so it launched Revive Environmental. Battelle transferred to Revive patented technologies—PFAS Annihilator​ and GAC Renew™​—to isolate, remove and destroy PFAS chemicals in aqueous waste streams and other sources of contamination. Battelle was joined in the launch by Viking Global Investors.

The PFAS Annihilator is not limited to destroying PFAS in landfill leachate; it can process aqueous PFAS waste from multiple sites and sources and for other applications that include industrial wastewater, soil remediation and Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) firefighting foams. By completely destroying PFAS, the PFAS Annihilator can supplant traditional methods of disposal that include sending PFAS-laden waste to landfills or deep well injection sites, and thermal treatment using incineration which may not completely destroy PFAS.

As part of its growth campaign, Revive is actively seeking partners for these different applications to offer customers full lifecycle solutions that safely and effectively eliminate PFAS contamination and the associated liability. Revive’s deployment with Heritage-Crystal Clean is the first example of such a partnership.

Brian Recatto, President and CEO of Heritage-Crystal Clean, provided initial industry leadership in seeing the PFAS Annihilator’s potential for leachate. He hosted the pilot-scale demonstration and then developed a partnership called 4never™, the first closed-loop PFAS remediation system which includes the PFAS Annihilator as the destruction technology. This 4never partnership is exclusive to private landfill leachate applications in the United States.

In this first deployment in Michigan, Heritage-Crystal Clean will work with multiple landfills, transporting, separating and concentrating their leachate. As the PFAS Annihilator comes up to full capacity, it will process between 300 to 500 gallons of concentrated landfill leachate per day (representing 300,000 to 500,000 gallons of raw leachate) to completely destroy the PFAS contained in it. Once the contaminated fluids are processed by the PFAS Annihilator, the only byproducts remaining are clean effluent water, carbon dioxide and inert salts.

Heritage Crystal-Clean will discharge the clean effluent water to publicly owned water treatment works. Heritage-Crystal Clean maintains a discharge permit that includes regular monitoring to confirm compliance with discharge limits. In Michigan, state and local regulatory agencies have already conducted multiple inspections and concur that the process is protective of human health and the environment. Engineering calculations have confirmed that discharges to the atmosphere are negligible. Plans and permits are all in place to confirm ongoing environmental compliance. Each state and county have differing regulations, so as Revive expands its solutions across the U.S., it will partner with local communities to ensure the delivery of treated, certified water that confidently can be discharged back into the environment with no PFAS.

Revive Environmental is actively taking capacity commitments for the additional six units scheduled for 2023 and expects to add significantly more units in 2024. Field demonstrations and treatability assessments for landfill leachate, industrial wastewater, soil remediation and AFFF are already underway and now further enhanced by the commercial deployment in Michigan.

About Revive Environmental

Revive Environmental is a full-service, environmental contaminant mitigation and water treatment company on a mission to destroy PFAS using ready-now, advanced technologies. These patented technologies—PFAS Annihilator™ and GAC Renew™—are commercially available and already operating in the U.S. Revive is rapidly scaling and deploying these technologies to isolate, remove and destroy PFAS chemicals from industrial wastewater, drinking water, groundwater, and AFFF firefighting foam. In one deployment, the PFAS Annihilator is running in a continuous operation and destroying PFAS to below the U.S. EPA’s 4 parts per trillion drinking water standards. For more information, visit revive-environmental.com.

About Battelle

Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle serves the national security, health and life sciences, and energy and environmental industries. For more information, visit www.battelle.org.

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