AECO, the world’s premier infrastructure consulting firm, celebrated a key milestone in Melbourne, Australia, with the unveiling of its first large-scale field demonstration of DE-FLUORO™, a world-first economically and environmentally sustainable treatment technology that destroys Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) chemicals from contaminated liquids without generating hazardous waste.
“We are excited to celebrate the launch of the first large-scale pilot DE-FLUORO™ unit, which is the culmination of a multi-year global collaboration and innovation effort jointly led by our Australian and United States PFAS teams,” said Lara Poloni, AECOM’s president. “PFAS contamination is one of the biggest environmental concerns we are facing today and after several years helping our clients to understand the human and environmental impacts of PFAS contamination, our teams took action to develop a market-leading solution that would eliminate one of the world’s most challenging contaminants from our communities. This is a powerful example of the positive environmental and social impact that we can deliver when we think and act globally.”
Previously, PFAS in contaminated groundwater or liquids were either stockpiled or incinerated at a huge cost. AECOM’s DE-FLUORO™ solution can be setup onsite and eliminates PFAS-concentrated liquids in a sustainable and cost-effective way. Unlike existing treatment technologies, DE-FLUORO™ offers a complete PFAS destruction solution by applying AECOM’s proprietary electrodes through electrochemical oxidation. The initial pilot program will be focused on undertaking destruction programs on Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) stockpiles and multiple PFAS impacted waste streams within Australia.
“We’d like to thank all of the clients that participated in the trials and enabled AECOM to test the efficacy of the technology,” said Gavin Scherer, AECOM’s global PFAS commercialization leader. “Now with the first large-scale field demonstration unit rolling off the production line and going on to client sites, we are ready to help them clean up a legacy of PFAS that has built up over decades.”
