Understanding new PFAS regulations and the impact on industry

A restriction proposal, which aims to restrict all use of PFAS under REACH, have since 2020 been developed by Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The proposal was submitted to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in January 2023. The UPFAS dossier covers possible PFAS uses (including manufacturing) as well as end of life of PFAS.
This presentation will introduce you to the work that has been done and the ongoing work. The primary focus will revolve around why PFAS is used, the overarching issue addressing PFAS and how the proposal plan to manage the emissions of PFAS.

PFAS is a class of widely used organofluorine chemicals, which all are or form poorly degradable chemicals, and therefore accumulate in people and environment. This is why them cause harm, and even at low levels given that many PFAS are toxic to people,environment and earth systems. With more than 10,000 PFAS it is practically and economically impossible to scientifically risk assess and regulate them one at a time. Meanwhile, assuming that unassessed PFAS are harmless is both scientifically incorrect and irresponsible as a society. This is the regulatory argument for managing the risk of PFAS by regulating them as a class (Kwiatkowski et al., 2020; ECHA 2023). But is it enough to reduce emissions at the use-phase stage of the PFAS lifecycle? And how may PFAS affect the multiple goals of a circular and low carbon economy in an increasingly unstable world (ETC/WMGE, 2021)? On this background, upstream prevention approaches such as Safe and Sustainable by Design (EEA, 2021) is highlighted.
Finally, it is discussed how documentation, based on e.g. lifecycle assessments, criteria setting and compliance testing of final products, is key to create trust and a level playing field for products both made or imported into Europe.

The PFAS restriction proposal has put on a lot of pressure on production companies in Europe. Covering thousands of persistent, organic fluorinated chemicals in so many different types of materials, it is very difficult to identify relevant parts and materials for possible substitutions in a production and a burdensome task. Are these investments worth the environmental benefits? Even if we manage to eliminate and substitute PFAS, can we trust the authorities to enforce such a broad regulation?
Helle Westphal will give us a status of the proposed restriction proposal and what possibilities she sees for industries in the current political climate.

The presentation will look at the applications of PFAS in the food industry and relate this to the potential impact of the current EU restriction proposal on the food industry.

We will then look at the impact of other PFAS related regulations and regulation proposals around the world. Several US States have adopted regulations that will restrict and regulate the use of PFAS, and the EPA has introduced a new PFAS reporting requirement.

The aim of the presentation is to give you an overview of the current status of PFAS regulations in relation to food contact materials, and what is coming.

Fluoropolymers, such as PTFE, PVDF and FKM, have long been revered for their exceptional chemical resistance and versatility. However, their usage often stems from convenience rather than necessity, leading to potential oversights in exploring environmentally and operationally suitable alternatives.
This presentation delves into the challenges of seeking polymers, or coatings, as versatile as fluoropolymers, acknowledging the inherent chemical impossibility of finding direct equivalents. The focal point of this talk is a cutting-edge tool developed by the Danish Technological Institute designed to streamline the process of identifying alternatives to fluoropolymers.

Many tribological coatings are made of PTFE (Teflon) due to the very low friction of this material. PTFE is a PFAS that are very soon to be banned due to their negative impact on the environment.

In this presentation an example is given where polyethylene is used as a substitute for PTFE. It has the same friction properties as PTFE and can match the physical properties except in high temperature applications. It is shown how the polyethylene is applied to a steel surface and how the coating performs in a very harsh friction test.

Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers that are key technologies in the effective production and utilization of green fuels, are typically dependent on PFAS containing coatings and materials to achieve high performance and long lifetime. Blue World Technologies is developing the high temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell system, which has a number of advantages in comparison to more traditional polymer electrolyte fuel cells. The key membrane is not based on the more traditional sulfonated fluoropolymer that is used in other systems, which is becoming a competitive advantage for us. In addition to this we are actively working on reducing and eliminating the usage of PFAS containing compounds in the fuel cell stack, which represent a number of challenges.
In this talk our journey towards PFAS reduction and elimination will be described.

In the coming years, it is likely that PFAS will be phased out, or be highly regulated. Unfortunately, coming up with an alternative has been a hard scientific challenge, because the properties of fluorine-containing compounds are hard to replicate in materials that do not contain fluorine, like prolonging product lifetime and protecting products from water and oil.
At the Danish Technological Institute we are developing a fluorine-free and halogen-free coating, using molecular vapor deposition, as an alternative to our current fluorine-containing coating, which will be introduced in this presentation.

When aiming to avoid, purify or break down PFAS in wastewater and sludge, you need to know the catalogue of solutions – and here’s what you get! At Krüger, we have mapped technologies for concentration and destruction of PFAS and looked at, among other things, effect, maturity, economy and references, and this is served through the presentation so that the recipient can form an impression of the possibilities and consequences themselves.