Belgian Innovation Destroys PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Forever
A Belgian company has achieved what was once considered impossible: the complete destruction of PFAS — the notoriously persistent “forever chemicals” — in contaminated soil. Haemers Technologies, a Brussels-based soil remediation firm founded in 1987, has developed a thermal desorption process that heats contaminated soil to extreme temperatures, vaporizing and then completely destroying PFAS molecules at their source. The breakthrough, successfully tested in Denmark, could fundamentally change how the world tackles one of the most intractable environmental challenges of our time.
The PFAS Problem
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of thousands of synthetic chemicals used since the 1940s in non-stick cookware, waterproof clothing, food packaging, and firefighting foams. Their carbon-fluorine bonds are among the strongest in chemistry, making them virtually indestructible in nature — hence the name “forever chemicals.” These substances accumulate in living organisms and have been linked to liver and kidney damage, thyroid disorders, immune system suppression, and increased risk of certain cancers.
The scale of contamination is staggering. In Wallonia alone, the regional soil remediation agency Spaque has identified approximately 6,600 brownfield and landfill sites covering about 24,000 hectares, according to RTBF. These sites contain “cocktails of pollutants” including heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and PFAS, with contamination capable of migrating into groundwater and causing widespread environmental and health problems.
How the Technology Works
Haemers Technologies’ process, described as “circular thermal remediation,” is elegantly simple in concept. The company heats contaminated soil on-site to approximately 350°C using thermal conduction, causing PFAS compounds to evaporate. The captured vapors are then injected into a burner system reaching 1,400°C — hot enough to completely break the carbon-fluorine bonds and destroy the molecular structure of PFAS.
“It’s a molecule created by humans not to be destroyed — that’s the very principle of PFAS,” Aurélien Vandekerckhove, Head of Innovation at Haemers Technologies, told RTBF. “We keep the same technology, we heat the soil to 250, 300, 350 degrees, to turn PFAS into vapor. At that point, my soil is treated. I no longer have PFAS in the soil.”
Crucially, the energy from burning the captured pollutants is recycled to heat the soil, reducing overall energy consumption. No soil excavation is required, preserving the soil structure and avoiding waste generation. “There is no waste. Soil is a resource,” Vandekerckhove emphasized. “We’re returning to a circular approach.”
Successful Field Test in Denmark
The technology was tested in Korsør, Denmark, on a former firefighting training site heavily contaminated with PFAS from firefighting foams. Using a container-based unit capable of treating approximately 30 tonnes of contaminated soil per 12-day cycle, independent laboratory analyses confirmed complete destruction of all PFAS with no toxic by-products.
“We demonstrated it works on a fire station site,” Vandekerckhove said. “We were able to demonstrate that all PFAS coming out of the container were completely destroyed and mineralized. This completely changes the game for PFAS.”
The successful test, first publicly presented in June 2025 at the company’s Nivelles research facility, was covered by Belga news agency and major Belgian media, and later by Le Monde. The innovation earned Haemers Technologies the NICOLE Innovation Award 2025 and an Environmental Business Journal Business Achievement Award.
The Funding Paradox
Despite its promise, the technology faces a significant hurdle closer to home. The Walloon Region provided millions of euros in public funding to develop the PFAS destruction process, yet the technology is not being used in Walloon public remediation projects.
“We are an innovative technology, therefore a bit more expensive,” Jan Haemers, CEO of Haemers Technologies, told Trends-Tendances. “The Region, when it is the contracting authority, sometimes considers it too costly or too innovative and favors more established technologies.”
The Spaque, Wallonia’s soil remediation agency, operates under strict public procurement rules that prioritize cost and established methods. Caroline Charlier, Spaque spokesperson, explained: “We act with public funding. Public funding means public procurement, with directives to respect. For sites financed by European Feder funds, there are requirements in terms of costs and deadlines.”
Implications and the Road Ahead
Current remediation methods — excavation and landfill, soil venting, bioremediation — merely move or contain PFAS rather than destroying them. Haemers’ approach offers permanent elimination, which could fundamentally change how societies deal with PFAS contamination.
The European Union has set a goal of achieving healthy soils by 2050, and the European Chemicals Agency is evaluating a universal PFAS restriction that would be the broadest chemical ban in EU history. These policy drivers could accelerate demand for permanent destruction technologies.
Haemers Technologies, with 70 employees and an annual turnover of €11 million, raised €3 million in 2026 to support industrial deployment. The company hopes that as environmental sustainability criteria are increasingly integrated into public tenders, its technology will become more competitive. Beyond PFAS, Haemers has also been involved in projects to remediate dioxin contamination in Vietnam from Agent Orange, demonstrating the broader applicability of thermal desorption.
As the world grapples with the legacy of decades of PFAS use, the Belgian breakthrough offers something rare: a genuine solution rather than a temporary fix. The question now is whether policy frameworks can evolve quickly enough to embrace it.