3M Co. said Monday it has idled all manufacturing of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” at a plant in Belgium as it works to fully exit PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of synthetic chemicals that do not easily degrade in the environment and are widely suspected to contribute to serious health effects.
3M said in June it would pay $10.3 billion to settle claims it was responsible for forever chemicals in drinking water in the U.S.
Read: 3M will stop making harmful PFAS found in hundreds of household items—what are ‘forever chemicals’?
The company said Monday that its Belgian unit has been working through regulatory matters with government agencies in connection with operations at its plant in Zwijndrecht, which is located in the province of Antwerp.
“While 3M Belgium continues to engage with the authorities, it has, for now, idled all PFAS manufacturing processes at its Zwijndrecht facility,” the company said in a regulatory filing. “Other manufacturing processes for non-PFAS products continue in Zwijndrecht at this time.”
3M
MMM,
which makes a range of industrial products as well as consumer products such as Post-it Notes, acknowledged that the development “could have a significant adverse impact on 3M Belgium’s normal operations and the company’s businesses that receive products and other materials from the facility, some of which may not be available or in similar quantities from other 3M facilities, which could in turn impact these businesses’ ability to fulfill supply obligations to their customers.”
Given the uncertainties about the duration and extent of the idling of manufacturing, the company said it is unable to offer exact details of the potential negative impact on its operations.
“3M Belgium is evaluating whether there are options to restart the idled PFAS manufacturing processes and other options to further accelerate the discontinuance of all PFAS manufacturing at its Zwijndrecht facility,” it said in the filing.
The stock has fallen 19% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX
has gained 12.5%.
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