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Dive Brief:
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An annual survey by the Environmental Business Journal estimates the 30-year market potential for managing PFAS contamination is about $132 million. That’s the lowest projection seen by the journal since at least 2019, when experts predicted a $160 million market potential.
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Just last year, experts estimated the market would top out at $230 million after the EPA’s new maximum contaminant level threshold for drinking water was released in April 2024. But the federal government’s loosening of certain PFAS restrictions since the arrival of the Trump administration has dampened those expectations.
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While the estimates were more muted this year, businesses involved in PFAS remediation are still spending heavily to boost capacity.
Dive Insight:
Experts have continually altered their predictions on the market for treatment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances across the economy. Such technologies are new but growing quickly, with tests run by federal agencies and private companies ongoing to determine their effectiveness.
The EBJ’s estimate includes expectations on three categories: remediation, drinking water and wastewater. Remediation spending is expected to be the largest and most durable over the 30-year timeframe — the experts surveyed expect that market to reach nearly $88 million. Drinking water spending is expected to reach $24 million, while wastewater spending is expected to total more than $20 million.
Last month, the U.S. EPA released the results of a test it conducted with Clean Harbors at the company’s Aragonite, Utah, incinerator finding the facility could destroy up to 99.9999% of certain PFAS chemicals, among the highest efficiencies confirmed to date. Veolia North America released the results of its own internal test in May finding it achieved 99.9999% destruction of certain PFAS chemicals at its Port Arthur facility.
The EPA’s own actions on PFAS policy have been more mixed. The agency has indicated it will defend its designation of certain PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances in court. If the definition holds, it would up remediation obligations for certain companies and contaminated sites.
But the agency has convinced a judge that it’s not obligated to regulate the chemical in sludge from wastewater treatment processes. It’s also telling courts it will revisit its regulation of four PFAS chemicals under the Safe Drinking Water Act, siding with two water industry groups.
That has led to a mixed regulatory environment for PFAS, made all the more complex by shifting state regulations on the family of chemicals.
Companies are still making big moves to capture the business spurred by regulations. SGS, among the world’s largest testing and inspection companies, has quadrupled its testing capacity in the U.S. for PFAS and other emerging contaminants since 2023, Jamie Fox, PFAS practice lead for the Western United States, told EBJ. The company anticipates rising demand in the country across categories, including drinking water facilities, wastewater treatment plants and site remediation.
Veolia has also staked its expansion plans on PFAS, pledging to develop more than 100 treatment sites around the U.S. This summer, it opened a $35 million treatment plant for drinking water in Delaware.
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