PROJECT TITLE: Fate of PFAS and Other Contaminants During Leachate Evaporation

Project Sponsor: Hinkley Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management

Project Duration: Oct. 01, 2022 - Sept. 30, 2023

Project Overview

As more wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) reduce or cease acceptance of leachate for treatment, more solid waste facilities have been moving to implementation of leachate evaporation using heat from the combustion of landfill gas and/or heat from the exhaust of landfill gas-to-energy generators. Residuals from this process are dried and then returned to the landfill, which causes the following potential concerns to landfill managers. The following questions are frequently asked.

1) What happens to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other contaminants when the leachate is evaporated? Do they concentrate within the residue? Are they emitted into the atmosphere?
2) What affects the distribution coefficient of PFAS (= PFAS in gas emission due to evaporation/PFAS in leachate residue after evaporation)?
3) What effects are likely on the chemical concentration of future leachate from the reintroduction of the concentrated leachate residuals into the landfill?

By answering the above questions, the project will provide information to landfill managers who plan to move from the discharge-to-sewer method to the leachate evaporation method.