Sustainability Summit -PFAS

The Conference of Fluoro-Chemical Product Japan (FCJ) was formed by a coalition of fluorochemicals manufacturers to share accurate information and advocate for responsible practices in the industry. The member companies have a long history of producing fluorochemical products while actively working to minimize their environmental footprint. This presentation highlights a notable example of FCJ’s commitment: its initiative on PFAS recycling.

The PFAS regulation proposal under REACH, announced in Jan 2023, has increased the likelihood that a broader range of fluorinated compounds will be subject to regulation. In semiconductor manufacturing, many materials such as etching gases, photoresists, insulation film and cleaning agents contain PFAS, and there is strong demand from semiconductor manufacturers and end customers for alternatives to these materials. In this presentation, I will introduce activities to substitute PFAS in semiconductor materials.

Over twenty four years investigation of PFAS in Japan, USA, EU, China, Korea, the Arctic and the Antarctic, global issue was found in use and regulation of PFAS. From the view point of the Consortium for analysis and remediation of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (CAR-PFAS Japan) (https://unit.aist.go.jp/mcml/rg-org/pfasconsortium.html), as president position, a geopolitical consideration is necessary to reach "Practical and possible solution" for PFAS problem in Japan.

Organofluorine compounds including fluoropolymers have been used for many applications because of their high stability. However, most of them fall into the category of PFAS. Hence, waste-treatment technologies that afford complete mineralization of these compounds are needed. Herein we report efficient mineralization of fluoropolymers and related materials.