MINNEAPOLIS — May 16, 2022 — Claros Technologies announced its strategic partnership with Kureha America Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Kureha Corp. Japan, to scale up a state-of-the-art technology that is capable of capturing, concentrating, and destroying “forever chemicals” (PFAS) from wastewater. The comprehensive solution is able to capture and concentrate PFAS chemicals, then permanently break their carbon-fluorine bonds into safe, naturally occurring elements. Kureha will collaborate with Claros to develop a commercially feasible system and install the system for Asian markets.
Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of extremely stable, water- and oil-resisting compounds used in a wide variety of industries and consumer products. Found in drinking water of an estimated 200 million Americans, PFAS pose substantial risk to public and environmental health, having been associated with immunosuppression, reproductive issues, and a variety of cancers. This risk is compounded by the inability of natural processes to break PFAS down due to their extremely strong carbon-fluorine (C-F) bonds, earning PFAS the title of “forever chemicals.”
“We applaud Kureha for its leadership in modeling how manufacturers can be good environmental and social stewards,” said Michelle Bellanca, CEO of Claros Technologies. “We recognize the greatest benefactors of this partnership are the environment and our children, and we share an urgency to close the loop on PFAS pollution.”
“As a chemical company, Kureha has a responsibility for mitigating the environmental impact of PFAS,” said Naomitsu Nishihata, president of Kureha America. “We seek to be socially responsible, accelerate innovation, and expand our business portfolio, and Claros’ comprehensive PFAS solution helps us meet each of those goals.”
Claros’ technology platform has multiple competitive advantages over current PFAS treatment solutions through a combination of effective capture, concentration, and destruction processes. Currently, PFAS wastes, including spent filter materials, are sent to landfills or are incinerated. Research has shown these disposal methods do not break the carbon-fluorine bonds, resulting in reemissions of PFAS into air, water and land. Consequently, several U.S. states and countries such as Japan are seeking to ban incineration and landfill disposal of PFAS waste. Claros’ PFAS remediation ecosystem represents a significant step towards a comprehensive life cycle approach to waste management backed by detailed analytics and sound science.
“Our approach is to concentrate PFAS from millions of gallons of wastewater into a few gallons of PFAS concentrate that can be cost-effectively and permanently destroyed in a traceable fashion. It works on a variety of industry wastewater and even on firefighting foam,” said Dr. Abdennour Abbas, Claros founder and CTO. “Changing the way we treat our chemical waste by adopting a closed-loop system will not only reduce risks for the public and the environment but also eliminate latent and future liabilities for manufacturers and waste disposal companies.”
Posted May 24, 2022
Source: Claros
