Waste Management
The EU bans the sale of PFAS-based firefighting foam from October 2026 and its use from 2030, which leaves thousands of tonnes of concentrate sitting on warehouse shelves at airports, military bases and fire stations with nowhere to…
Technology brief
The EU bans the sale of PFAS-based firefighting foam from October 2026 and its use from 2030, which leaves thousands of tonnes of concentrate sitting on warehouse shelves at airports, military bases and fire stations with nowhere to…
The challenge
On-site volume reduction of PFAS firefighting foam stockpiles ahead of incineration, for airports, military bases, fire services and industrial sites facing the 2026 and 2030 deadlines. Second line: fluorine recovery as hydrofluoric acid from phosphate-industry acid waste — a proven, separate revenue stream feeding fertiliser and other industries.
ARBOK solution
The EU bans the sale of PFAS-based firefighting foam from October 2026 and its use from 2030, which leaves thousands of tonnes of concentrate sitting on warehouse shelves at airports, military bases and fire stations with nowhere to go. The only proven way to destroy the PFAS molecule is incineration at 1,100 °C for 2–3 seconds, and the furnace charges by volume — so most of the bill is for burning water. ARBOK-DEFLUOR sits on both sides of that furnace. A mobile unit compacts the stockpile on site before it is hauled, and the fluorine leaving the furnace is captured as a marketable acid instead of being scrubbed into lime sludge and buried.
Under deep vacuum water boils at 7–10 °C, at ambient temperature, with no heating, no reagents, no membranes and no filters. PFOS boils at 259 °C and PFOA at 192.4 °C — 150–250 degrees above the water — so the water vapour leaves clean and the PFAS molecule stays entirely in the concentrate. A 10 m³ contaminated foam stream yields 10 m³ of clean water and a dry residue concentrated 20–30×, roughly 330–500 kg of powder. That powder is what goes to the furnace, instead of the original volume.
Market and application
The EU AFFF market runs 14,000–20,000 t a year, against an estimated 13,745 contamination sites and roughly 15,000 stockpile-holding objects across Europe facing the 2026 and 2030 deadlines. UK disposal rates rose 5× in a single year, from £0.52 to £2.80 per litre. In the US, defence sites must remove over 2 mln gallons of concentrate from 700 locations. Modelled saving on the EU flow alone: about €1,500 per ton of original foam volume, or €21–30 mln a year in disposal costs, before any fluorine revenue.
A 17 t stockpile costs about €27,000 turnkey to incinerate directly, roughly €1,600 per ton of original volume. Compacted first, only 0.5–0.85 t reaches the furnace, at about €1,100–1,600 turnkey — a saving near €25,000–26,000 on one site.
Use cases
On-site volume reduction of PFAS firefighting foam stockpiles ahead of incineration, for airports, military bases, fire services and industrial sites facing the 2026 and 2030 deadlines. Second line: fluorine recovery as hydrofluoric acid from phosphate-industry acid waste — a proven, separate revenue stream feeding fertiliser and other industries.
The EU bans the sale of PFAS-based firefighting foam from October 2026 and its use from 2030, which leaves thousands of tonnes of concentrate sitting on warehouse shelves at airports, military bases and fire stations with nowhere to go. The only proven way to destroy the PFAS molecule is incineration at 1,100 °C for 2–3 seconds, and the furnace charges by volume — so most of the bill is for burning water. ARBOK-DEFLUOR sits on both sides of that furnace. A mobile unit compacts the stockpile on site before it is hauled, and the fluorine leaving the furnace is captured as a marketable acid instead of being scrubbed into lime sludge and buried.
On-site volume reduction of PFAS firefighting foam stockpiles ahead of incineration, for airports, military bases, fire services and industrial sites facing the 2026 and 2030 deadlines. Second line: fluorine recovery as hydrofluoric acid from phosphate-industry acid waste — a proven, separate revenue stream feeding fertiliser and other industries.
Under deep vacuum water boils at 7–10 °C, at ambient temperature, with no heating, no reagents, no membranes and no filters. PFOS boils at 259 °C and PFOA at 192.4 °C — 150–250 degrees above the water — so the water vapour leaves clean and the PFAS molecule stays entirely in the concentrate. A 10 m³ contaminated foam stream yields 10 m³ of clean water and a dry residue concentrated 20–30×, roughly 330–500 kg of powder. That powder is what goes to the furnace, instead of the original volume.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Concentration factor | 20–30× |
| Example | 10 m³ in → 10 m³ clean water + 330–500 kg dry residue |
| Water boiling point under vacuum | 7–10 °C, ambient |
| PFOS / PFOA boiling points | 259 °C / 192.4 °C |
| Mobile unit | 3.5 m × 1 m, truck-transported, raised vertically on site |
| Time on site | 1–2 days per stockpile |
The furnace bill scales with volume, and volume is what this removes — before the haul, on the site that owns the problem. The fluorine on the exhaust side stops being sludge to bury and becomes an acid to sell.
The EU AFFF market runs 14,000–20,000 t a year, against an estimated 13,745 contamination sites and roughly 15,000 stockpile-holding objects across Europe facing the 2026 and 2030 deadlines. UK disposal rates rose 5× in a single year, from £0.52 to £2.80 per litre. In the US, defence sites must remove over 2 mln gallons of concentrate from 700 locations. Modelled saving on the EU flow alone: about €1,500 per ton of original foam volume, or €21–30 mln a year in disposal costs, before any fluorine revenue.
Arbok-Mobile · ARBOK-Phosphate · ARBOK-VC (Vacuum Cracking)
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Partnership pathway