Treatment of PFAS contaminated materials and aquatic environments, using peat waste and microbes

Östersund municipality wants to be better at making use of the peat removed during new constructions, etc. Peat is a fossil material and today the peat that becomes an unwanted waste during the planning of Östersund municipality's land ends up in landfill.  

The purpose of the project is that peat that is now a waste should instead be seen as a resource with processing opportunities, which can contribute to a more circular treatment of the material, while at the same time processing can provide an income to the municipality instead of being a cost.

The deposited peat will be investigated by researchers at Mid Sweden University as a raw material alternative for the production of carbon-storing materials and possible to treat PFAS contaminated water and/or areas. There is therefore also an environmental incentive to use the deposited peat for something useful, such as enriching PFAS from polluted aquatic environments. The project also wants to investigate whether it is possible to use the microorganisms found in the peat or from the surrounding nature in general to break down and render harmless these PFAS toxins.