Dive Brief:

• Environmental services company Veolia North America has launched BeyondPFAS, a set of treatment and compliance services for businesses and municipalities looking for “comprehensive” PFAS management assistance. 
• Veolia already provides management services for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, but it says the new BeyondPFAS suite aims to be a “one-stop shop” to help customers manage regulatory requirements and decide among treatment and disposal options.
• The BeyondPFAS suite provides services such as site assessment and sampling, as well as design and build services for treatment infrastructure. It also offers PFAS treatment, handling and disposal services designed for identifying and treating PFAS in “water supplies, work processes or waste streams,” according to a news release.

Dive Insight:

Veolia is expanding its PFAS services as more and more companies are launching or expanding their own PFAS solutions. Veolia sees itself as a competitive player in the market because it says it offers a wider range of technologies and services compared with some niche companies that focus on one or two types of treatment options. Veolia, which also operates in France and elsewhere, also sees an advantage from operating numerous businesses worldwide.

BeyondPFAS aims to “streamline implementation, optimize costs, minimize risks and secure long-term operational efficiency,” said Frédéric Van Heems, Veolia North America’s CEO, in a statement.

Veolia has experienced notable revenue growth in the last five years, and it sees the PFAS management sector as a key business opportunity that could further accelerate its business in the region. That’s in part due to recent U.S. EPA regulations related to PFAS standards for drinking water and certain PFAS hazardous substance designations. 

Landfill operators say they expect to spend more on PFAS management from leachate in coming years, with some hoping the competition between PFAS mitigation companies will bring costs down and offer more bespoke services.

The company offers several treatment options, including technologies involving granular activated carbon, reverse osmosis, thermal oxidation and specialized anion exchange resins. It also can provide mobile or permanent treatment equipment and operate such equipment on behalf of its clients, the company said.

Veolia also highlighted its disposal solutions, including its high-temperature incineration facility in Port Arthur, Texas, which it says has a 99.9999% destruction and removal efficiency. Veolia says it can also connect customers to other disposal options “in line with current EPA-recommended methods” such as landfilling and deep well injection.

The company previously announced it was planning to increase its waste treatment capacity across the country, including by expanding its campus in Gum Springs, Arkansas, to allow its incinerator to handle 100,000 tons of hazardous waste per year.

Veolia executives say the company has developed its range of PFAS solutions over the years, including by managing PFAS mitigation strategies for about 80 municipal water systems it owns and operates across the U.S. The company estimates it has treated more than 24 billion gallons of water for PFAS at about 30 sites, and it says it has “dozens” more in the planning or construction process, according to a news release.

Veolia and other companies will continue to tailor services to changing regulations and guidance from agencies such as the EPA. In April, the EPA updated its PFAS destruction and disposal guidance and said that more research on PFAS, as well as research on related treatment and disposal technologies, was in the works.