Protecting Our Ecosystems With a Safe Sink for PFAS

From raincoats to cosmetics, from medical devices to car batteries: PFAS is all around us. Using our know-how and expertise, we take our responsibility to eliminate these harmful and persistent substances from society with a minimum of impact on environment and people. We firmly advocate a more systemic solution, including better inventories of the spreading and eventually the phase-out of PFAS altogether.

Indaver

PFAS came to stay. Now what?

PFAS is a family of thousands of chemicals that are used in countless applications. The problem is that, for various reasons (durability, water resistance, etc.), many industries have become largely dependent on them. Manufacturers of live-saving medical devices, for instance. And in most cases, there is no drop-in substitute available to easily transition to PFAS-free alternatives at short notice. 

Adding to the problem, PFAS are persistent. That means they stack up in organisms and our natural environment, because they’re not or hardly biodegradable. Hence their nickname: forever chemicals.  

Although PFAS have recently become the centre of public debate, it’s likely they’ll be around for many years to come. To illustrate: in Belgium alone, more than 8,000 tonnes of PFAS are still used every year. 

As an experienced, well-equipped, and responsible waste manager, Indaver has been developing a safe sink for PFAS for many years. And by ‘safe sink’, we mean an effective, safe, and sustainable solution to remove PFAS from our ecosystems.

What is it exactly we do? "In our rotary kilns in Antwerp, we destroy PFAS molecules on an industrial scale by exposing them to high temperatures – over 1,000 °C – for a long time and under intense turbulence to cause thermochemical reactions”, says Stefan Opdenakker, Site Manager at Indaver Antwerp. "Moreover, our kilns are equipped with post-combustion systems and advanced flue gas cleaning. These ensure that even the most complex PFAS molecules are destroyed.”

It’s impossible to process all of Belgium’s PFAS in this way. What we can do, however, is provide a safe sink for specific PFAS-containing waste streams in our facilities, such as:

•     Waste streams from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries  
•     Disposed consumer goods  
•     Contaminated soil from remediation projects

In doing so, we safely remove 600 tonnes of PFAS from our ecosystem every year. This makes Indaver a crucial part of a broader solution for PFAS.

The real way forward: a systemic approach

Karl Vrancken, Chief Sustainability Officer at Indaver: "Safe treatment of PFAS-containing waste alone won’t solve the problem. We need a systemic solution to reduce the impact of PFAS on people and the environment to an absolute minimum. This solution requires clear policy, cross-sectoral collaboration, and a will to invest in new technologies.”

In our view, a systemic solution focuses on four key elements:

1.     Phasing out PFAS
2.     Preventing dispersion
3.     Mapping the spread
4.     Treating contamination

"It’s in that last phase – the treatment of PFAS contamination – that Indaver takes up its responsibility”, says Karl Vrancken. "A task we perform with the greatest care for the environment and in accordance with the strictest standards.”

Minimum impact on air, water, and soil

Scientific studies and numerous measurements show that Indaver’s residual emissions do not pose any risk to our employees or surroundings.  

Air emissions

Since 2023, we’ve conducted more than 50 PFAS emission campaigns in our flue gases. All of them based on the most advanced measurement methods developed by VITO (LUC/VI/003). And as of 2025, we continuously measure hydrogen fluoride in our flue gases to obtain even better insights. The result of our combined efforts and investments: our air emissions meet the European Food Safety Agency standards for PFAS. Moreover, based on our extensive data set – which is unprecedented in Europe – independent experts confirmed that Indaver has no significant impact on its environment.

Water emissions

The process water we use in our flue gas cleaning is carefully purified afterwards. First physico-chemically and biologically, then through sand filtration, and finally via two streets of four activated carbon filters. This allows us to remove both short- and long-chain PFAS from the water to below the detection limit. To make it tangible: our discharge concentration is lower than one sugar cube being dissolved in 100 Olympic swimming pools.

Because we want to keep on raising the bar for ourselves, we also investigate technological innovations like ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis and other emerging water purification techniques (like non-thermal plasma). This allows us in the future to even further remove remaining PFAS from our discharge water.

Important to note is that Indaver applies the latest measurement method for ultra-short chain PFAS. The results today already demonstrate that the water discharge is significantly lower than the environmental quality requirements for ultra-short chain PFAS. Moreover, Indaver complies with the discharge limits for ultra-short PFAS chains as set out in the environmental permit dated 24/10/2025.  

Soil emissions

Indaver also treats PFAS-containing waste with the greatest care for the soil. Despite our efforts, research has shown that the groundwater beneath our site contains elevated PFAS levels. That was the starting point for a soil remediation project in 2024. The project involves the use of sand filters and three activated carbon filters to treat the groundwater. The purified water is then reused in our operations.

Taking responsibility… together

We’ll continue to take responsibility by investing in technology, monitoring, and collaboration. Through transparent reporting and open dialogue with authorities, customers, neighbours and researchers, we’re building a clean and safe future. Because ultimately, we can only remove PFAS from our ecosystems together.  

November 04, 2025
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