9 November 2022

It was serendipitous that AECOM’s Deflouro technology and EPOC Enviro’s SAFF technology took out first and second place respectively as Best Innovation Technology of the Year at the recent CRC Care awards, as these two complementary PFAS remediation technologies will be paired at a confidential US trial in November.

It was reportedly a difficult decision for the judges to select which technology was the outright winner. On the one hand, you have the important separation + concentration steps delivered by SAFF which effectively removes the problem from the environment, vs Deflouro’s Electrochemical Oxidation Cell technology which ensures total destruction of these ‘forever chemicals’, with their characteristics of persistence, bioaccumulation, toxicity and mobility.

Ultimately, and after a recount, the judges determined that the significance of permanent destruction was the deciding point differentiating the technologies.

Their decision also aligns with the US-ITRC preferred method for PFAS remediation, which is Separation + Concentration + Destruction.

Regardless of the outcome, the pairing of these innovative technologies represents a sweet spot for remediators, as it allows permanent destruction of PFAS onsite, enabling an efficient, closed loop remediation process.

We look forward to sharing the data with you on this and several other trials currently being undertaken around the world to pair SAFF with industries most promising PFAS destruction technologies.