Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are frequently detected in both aquatic and terrestrial environment while Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and Municipal Solid Waste Recovery Plants (MSWRPs) are considered important sources of PFAS emissions.

In the case of STPs, PFAS concentrations vary depending on population density, consumption patterns, industrial activities, and the applied wastewater treatment technologies. Due to most PFAS resistance to biodegradation, the main mechanism that affects their removal in conventional STPs is their sorption to suspended solids and their accumulation in primary and secondary sludge. On the other hand, in EU-27, 35% of the produced sewage sludge is directly used in agriculture and 15% is composted while in USA 43% of the produced biosolids are applied to the soil for agricultural purposes, reclamation or home gardening.

Regarding MSWRPs, information on the occurrence of PFAS in recyclable materials remains limited, and existing studies have so far focused on a restricted number of target compounds. On the other hand, recycling can cause the circularity of PFAS in the new product and subsequent release throughout its lifespan while composted food packaging has been found to contain PFAS and could also cause contamination during the land application of compost.

The wide use of PFAS in various everyday products and industrial applications and the chemical properties of these compounds set questions for the safe reuse of the by-products of Sewage and Municipal Solid Waste management sector. Additionally, the existing treatment technologies are not sufficient for the removal of PFAS from contaminated wastewater and biosolids.

PFASinCircEcon aims to:

• Study the occurrence and fate of PFAS in the sector of municipal wastewater management and to evaluate the relevant risks from wastewater and sewage agricultural reuse
• Examine the presence of PFAS in the recyclable materials and evaluate the Municipal Solid Waste Recovery Plants as PFAS hot spots
• Develop and evaluate new technologies for the elimination of PFAS from heavily contaminated wastewater and biosolids.