How Does PFAS Impact Your Landfill?
The best thing you can currently do about PFAS is become informed.
Is your landfill prepared for PFAS? There have been several regulatory updates in recent years, with EPA designating PFOA and PFOS as CERCLA Hazardous Substances. CERCLA, also known as Superfund, enables the EPA to take action for identifying and addressing contamination, under a polluter pays model. This may lay the groundwork for more lawsuits. In addition, EPA finalized PFAS rulemaking taking place under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). There have also been ongoing discussions and possible updates soon regarding the handling of PFAS in biosolids.
In this time of evolving regulations and ongoing public concern related to PFAS, it’s key to understand how to approach this issue for your operations. Landfills have the capacity to sequester and store PFAS waste, providing a solution for PFAS management if properly prepared to do so.
There are many treatment technologies and systems now available to treat leachate for PFAS removal. How do you know which is the right fit for your landfill?
Between Granular Activated Carbon (GAC), Ion Exchange (IX) Resin, Reverse Osmosis (RO), wetland treatments, Foam Fractionation, and more, there are many options for reducing the amount of PFAS in landfill leachate. There are many factors to consider when seeking to implement a leachate treatment system, including your leachate volume and composition. Once the PFAS is separated, various technologies are available to effectively destroy PFAS, including high-temperature incineration, plasma treatment, Electrochemical Oxidation (eOx), and many others.
In this ever-changing PFAS regulatory landscape, make sure you have the terminology, regulatory background, and knowledge of treatment and destruction technologies to make the most informed decisions for your landfill and your organization.
The SWANA course “Essential Leachate PFAS Treatment and Management Training for Landfill Professionals” will equip you and your team with the information needed to understand how to approach PFAS in your operations.
This course will next be held at the Global Waste Management Symposium (GWMS), February 22, 2026, in Indian Wells, California. Join SWANA for this one-day in-person course and gain knowledge that will prepare you for now and into the future.
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