Fact Sheet for the 2026 Interim Guidance on the Destruction and Disposal of PFAS
EPA has issued an update to the Interim Guidance on the Destruction and Disposal of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Materials Containing Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). This is an update to the interim guidance issued in 2024 and utilizes information and data reviewed up until September 2025.
The interim guidance:
- Provides recommendations for managers of PFAS and PFAS-containing materials to protect human health and the environment.
- Contains a new technology evaluation framework to help analyze the safety and effectiveness of new destruction and disposal technologies.
- Does not establish requirements for destruction or disposal of PFAS materials.
- Summarizes scientific information on current understanding of PFAS and focuses on three widely used and commercially available destruction and disposal technologies:
- 1) Underground injection;
- 2) Landfills; and
- 3) Thermal treatment under certain conditions, which includes incineration (pdf).
- Summarizes research needs and data gaps and calls for increased collaboration with EPA to collect data and enhance decision-making.
- Describes new EPA test methods.
Key Findings in 2026
Updated information on destruction and disposal technologies
As a general approach, EPA encourages managers of PFAS and PFAS-containing materials to use destruction and disposal options that have a lower potential for releasing PFAS to the environment based on site specific conditions as described in Section 1 of the interim guidance. EPA is not endorsing one technology over another; it is presenting the technologies’ relative potential to minimize PFAS release. EPA encourages those that target and destroy PFAS and that minimize PFAS release. In general, the following technologies (in no relative order) have a lower potential for environmental release of PFAS compared to other technologies or operating conditions within the categories of storage, underground injection, landfilling, and thermal treatment:
Underground injection–Permitted Class I non-hazardous industrial or hazardous waste injection wells: The standards associated with the construction, operation, and monitoring of these Class I wells are designed to isolate liquid wastes deep below the land surface and ensure protection of underground sources of drinking water. While Class I wells are an option for managing PFAS-containing fluids, this technology may not be appropriate or available everywhere (Section 3).
Landfills–Permitted RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste landfills: When landfill disposal is selected and PFAS concentration of the waste is relatively high, EPA recommends using a hazardous waste landfill. These types of landfills have the strictest engineering controls and practices for minimizing environmental releases of PFAS from leachate and landfill gas. These controls are especially important for certain types of PFAS-containing materials that break down more easily in landfill conditions. However, for all landfill types, new information demonstrates landfilling could result in higher PFAS releases to the environment than previously thought in 2024 (Section 3).
Thermal treatment–Permitted hazardous waste combustors that operate under certain conditions: New research since 2024 has yielded promising results. It indicates that thermal treatment units operating under certain conditions can effectively destroy PFAS and minimize environmental releases or human exposures. Certain hazardous waste combustors and certain granular activated carbon reactivation units may operate under these conditions, but uncertainties remain. For example, more information is needed to determine whether harmful products of incomplete combustion or PFAS air emissions are formed by units operating at lower temperatures, like municipal waste combustors. EPA’s new analytical methods will allow better characterization of incineration byproducts which will help to address some of these uncertainties. The updated interim guidance encourages testing with a range of methods at thermal treatment facilities before accepting large quantities of PFAS-containing materials (Section 3 and Appendix A).
The interim guidance discusses these and other PFAS destruction and disposal technologies, plus testing and research needs to improve technology performance, improve understanding of PFAS behavior, and reduce uncertainties (Section 4).
Emerging Destruction and Disposal Technologies
Federal entities and many companies and researchers are developing and testing new PFAS destruction and disposal technologies. EPA encourages technology developers to generate and publicly release data that can be reviewed, and to ensure the data are consistent with the tenets of gold standard science established in Executive Order 14303, Restoring Gold Standard Science. The guidance provides a technology evaluation framework to help analyze the safety and effectiveness of new destruction and disposal technologies, and notes the need for innovation, research, and validation (Section 5).
Public Input and Next Steps
EPA has opened a docket to take input on the interim guidance for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register. Instructions on how to submit comments can be found in the Federal Register Notice. We welcome public input on how to improve the guidance and this fact sheet.
Comments can be submitted to the public docket EPA-HQ-OLEM-2020-0527.
EPA and other government, academic, and private institutions will continue to conduct research to better understand PFAS destruction and disposal (see Section 4). EPA will consider public comments it receives on this version of the guidance, as well as additional advancements in PFAS research and science to publish annual updates. On April 28, 2025, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin committed to providing more frequent updates to the interim guidance—changing from every three years to annually. This guidance will be published with a 60-day comment period. EPA will publish a Federal Register Notice with instructions on how to submit comments. During the public comment period, EPA encourages the public to submit studies and data related to management of the PFAS-containing waste described in Section 2. Additionally, continued collaboration with industry researchers is encouraged to conduct emissions testing of PFAS treatment devices, including evaluation of products of incomplete combustion and products of incomplete destruction.