- The U.S. EPA says it will defend its rule designating certain PFAS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, according to a court document filed by the Justice Department on behalf of the EPA on Wednesday.
- The hazardous substance designation for two types of PFAS — PFOS and PFOA — was first set last year under the Biden administration. The National Waste & Recycling Association and other groups sued the EPA in 2024 over the matter, saying the designation unfairly exposes them to liability expenses because they are “passive receivers” that do not have control over PFAS-laden materials that enter their facilities.
- The EPA also said it intends to develop a new rule on how it might craft any future hazardous substance designations under CERCLA, including cost considerations. “The best, most enduring solution to this issue is a statutory fix to protect passive receivers from liability, which EPA would follow to the letter of the law,” the agency said.
EPA announces intent to defend PFAS hazardous substance designation | Waste Dive
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The Forest Stewardship Council recently developed a new case study exploring how Kimberly-Clark first started sourcing FSC fiber, the logic for putting the FSC label on its iconic products, and how the actions the company took helped reshape its industry. “Sustainability has become table stakes for our types of products,” said Andy Clement, Kimberly-Clark Professional Vice President of Sales, explaining the changes he’s seen.
The case study highlights that FSC can be an important part of a communications and marketing strategy, in addition to helping achieve strategy objectives and mitigate supply chain risk. Once the work to source FSC-certified products has been done, it just makes sense to tell customers about the effort and why it matters.
RenFuel and Nordic Paper have signed an agreement to build a production test facility in Bäckhammar in the region of Värmland, Sweden in order to test-manufacture an advanced biofuel based on lignin. The project has been granted 71 million SEK by the Swedish Energy Agency.
The Swedish bioenergy research firm RenFuel has developed and patented a method to refine the lignin from black liquor, a renewable byproduct from the production of paper pulp, into lignin oil. The oil, called Lignol, can replace fossil oil and be used as raw material in the production of renewable gasoline and diesel. Using the black liquor also leads to an increase in production capacity and profit in the paper pulp industry.
“Our product Lignol is the key to reaching the goal of a fossil free vehicle fleet in Sweden by 2030. We are very pleased to finally being able to put the product into large scale testing, as a result of the cooperation with Nordic Paper and the financial support from the Swedish Energy Agency,” Sven Löchen, CEO of RenFuel said.