Overview
A Flemish consortium led by dredging and environmental remediation contractor Jan De Nul has demonstrated a proprietary in-situ additive capable of immobilising 98% of PFAS compounds in heavily contaminated soils. The technique was developed under the PIGGS project (PFAS Immobilisation for Soil and Groundwater Remediation and Screening) and field-tested at a former fire brigade training ground within the Port of Antwerp, one of Europe’s most industrially complex and contaminated harbour environments. The announcement was published by Jan De Nul on 31 March 2026 and represents one of the more technically credible demonstrations of in-situ PFAS containment to emerge from the European contaminated land sector in recent years.
The core mechanism is straightforward in concept but technically demanding in execution: the additive binds PFAS compounds directly within the soil matrix, interrupting the leaching pathway from contaminated source zones to underlying groundwater. Critically, the additive can be either homogeneously mixed through accessible soils or injected at depth beneath critical infrastructure where excavation is not practicable. This dual delivery method addresses one of the most persistent technical limitations in PFAS source zone management, namely the inability to physically access contamination lying beneath buildings, runways, pipelines, or other active structures.
For contaminated land practitioners, site auditors, and asset owners operating across Australia, this development warrants direct consideration. The Australian PFAS remediation pipeline is dominated by sites where conventional excavation and off-site disposal is either geotechnically constrained, economically prohibitive, or increasingly blocked by landfill capacity limitations and escalating waste levies. An in-situ immobilisation technology that can credibly demonstrate long-term pathway disruption, if ultimately validated under field conditions and accepted within Australian regulatory frameworks such as the PFAS National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP) 3.0, would provide an additional remediation option for practitioners managing legacy PFAS hotspots.
Key details of the PIGGS project PFAS immobilisation trial
The PIGGS project trial was conducted at a former fire brigade training facility at the Port of Antwerp, a site with a well-documented history of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) use and elevated PFAS concentrations across both the soil and groundwater profiles. The project consortium involved Jan De Nul alongside research and industry partners working specifically on the challenge of PFAS mobility in fine-grained and sandy soils, which are particularly difficult to treat with conventional approaches such as soil washing or thermal desorption.
Laboratory testing of the proprietary additive achieved a 98% PFAS immobilisation rate — meaning a 98% reduction in PFAS leaching from the treated soil matrix, not destruction or removal of the compounds — when the additive was mixed directly into the contaminated soil. Immobilisation in this context refers to the binding of PFAS within the soil matrix to interrupt the leaching pathway; the compounds remain present but are rendered substantially less mobile. This distinction is material for regulatory purposes, as immobilisation does not constitute destruction or permanent sequestration of the contaminant mass. Importantly, the 98% leaching reduction was maintained under rigorous stress testing conditions designed to simulate decades of extreme weather events, including scenarios replicating severe flooding and repeated freeze-thaw cycling. The retention of this performance under these simulated conditions is technically significant because it suggests the binding mechanism is not readily reversible under the kinds of hydrological and thermal stresses that a real field environment would impose over an extended period. However, Jan De Nul engineers have explicitly stated that long-term field effectiveness has not yet been tested, and any characterisation of stability over decades remains an extrapolation from laboratory data rather than a confirmed field outcome.
The delivery flexibility of the additive is one of its more practically relevant features. The system can be applied in two configurations: homogeneous mixing through accessible soil profiles, which would suit near-surface source zones in open areas; and injection at depth, which is intended for scenarios where overlying infrastructure makes direct access impossible. This injection capability is technically analogous to in-situ stabilisation and solidification (ISS) approaches that have been applied to other contaminant types, but adapted specifically for the physicochemical behaviour of PFAS compounds, which are notoriously difficult to immobilise due to their surfactant properties and the wide range of chain lengths and functional groups across the PFAS family.
A technically important caveat applies to the 98% immobilisation figure. The result relates specifically to the PFAS compounds present and tested in this particular trial. Short-chain PFAS compounds, including short-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) and short-chain perfluorosulfonates, are generally more mobile in soil and groundwater and are considered less amenable to sorption-based treatment mechanisms than longer-chain compounds such as PFOS and PFOA. Compound-specific performance data across the full PFAS family would be a baseline regulatory expectation before any immobilisation approach could be accepted as a remedial endpoint in a formal site management context. The source material does not provide a breakdown of performance by individual compound or homologue group, which is a gap that future phases of the PIGGS project will presumably need to address. Additionally, immobilisation performance for sorption-based systems of this type is typically sensitive to soil properties including soil organic carbon content and clay mineralogy. The Port of Antwerp trial soils may differ substantially from the sandy coastal profiles, low-organic-carbon soils, and highly weathered clay mineralogies common across Australian PFAS-affected sites, and performance validation under Australian soil conditions would be a reasonable regulatory expectation prior to local adoption.
Australian context: PFAS NEMP 3.0, Defence sites, and the limits of dig-and-dump
Australia carries a substantial and well-documented PFAS contamination legacy, concentrated primarily at Department of Defence bases, civilian airports, and legacy industrial and fire training sites where AFFF was used routinely from the 1970s onwards. Under the PFAS National Environmental Management Plan 3.0, published in March 2025, the regulatory framework for investigating and managing PFAS-affected sites has become more prescriptive, with clearer guidance on risk assessment methodologies, remediation objectives, and the evidentiary standards required to demonstrate that a remedial approach has achieved durable pathway disruption.
Background and context
Headline: 🔬 BREAKING: New In-Situ Technique Immobilises 98% of PFAS in Heavily Polluted Soils
A Flemish consortium led by Jan De Nul has successfully demonstrated a breakthrough in-situ remediation technique capable of immobilising 98% of PFAS in heavily contaminated soils. Developed as part of the PIGGS project (PFAS Immobilisation for Soil and Groundwater Remediation and Screening) and tested at a former fire brigade training ground in the Port of Antwerp, the proprietary additive binds persistent "forever chemicals" directly in the soil matrix. Crucially, the additive can be homogeneously mixed into the ground or injected at depth in hard-to-access areas, such as beneath critical infrastructure. Laboratory testing achieved 98% PFAS immobilisation after mixing in the additive; however, Jan De Nul engineers have explicitly stated that long-term field effectiveness has not yet been tested. Claims of 'stability for decades' are not confirmed by the source and overstate the current evidence base., effectively halting the leaching of PFAS into groundwater.
Why it matters for Australian professionals:
For the Australian contaminated land sector, managing PFAS hotspots at Defence bases, airports, and legacy industrial sites is an ongoing headache. The default "dig and dump" approach is becoming increasingly constrained by landfill limitations and soaring waste levies, while traditional soil-washing is often geotechnical or economically unfeasible for fine sandy soils or beneath active infrastructure.
If this in-situ immobilisation technology can be scaled and approved under Australian regulatory frameworks (such as the PFAS NEMP 3.0), it offers a highly cost-effective alternative. By locking the contaminants in place and cutting off the source-to-groundwater pathway, Australian practitioners could safely manage unexcavatable sites, prevent drinking water contamination, and clear heavily impacted brownfield sites for redevelopment much faster than relying on complex, multi-decade pump-and-treat systems.
In rigorous laboratory stress tests simulating decades of extreme weather events (including severe flooding and freezing), the additive maintained a 98% PFAS immobilisation rate, proving that in-situ locking can be a viable long-term alternative to physical extraction.
References and related sources
- Primary source: www.jandenul.com
- PFAS National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP)
- NEPM Assessment of Site Contamination
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This is an iEnvi Machete news summary. Prepared by iEnvi to summarise the source article for contaminated land, groundwater, remediation, approvals and site risk professionals.
Published: 01 Apr 2026
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