The company's building, a former car dealership in Neder-over-Heembeek on the industrial outskirts of Brussels, will soon be too small. Ever since declaring his firm belief that "the end of forever chemicals begins here" to the press on June 4, Jan Haemers, the head of the Belgian company Haemers Technologies, has been overwhelmed. There will certainly be plenty of work and contracts to fulfill in the coming months for his 70 employees, two-thirds of whom are engineers from 20 different countries.

A specialist in thermal soil decontamination as well as a geologist, hydrologist and mining engineer, the tousle-haired boss takes evident pride in his discovery: a technique that, he insists, destroys forever chemicals or PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) at the source, with no residues or by-products. The problem is so vast, in Belgium and globally, that such an announcement might elicit skepticism. In response, Haemers explains calmly, repeats himself and speaks with enthusiasm.

Haemers says that, like any good inventor, he simply happened to be the first to have the right idea. In this case, to treat soil polluted by these substances, which are used in a wide range of applications for their water-repellent, non-stick and heat-resistant properties, it was necessary to develop a new technology. And, it had to differ from the method used up until now by three companies – two American, one Canadian – that conduct remediation by heating soil electrically, a process that stabilizes or partially reduces pollution but does not break down the molecules.

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