TORONTO, ON / ACCESS Newswire / August 17, 2026 / (TSXV:YES)(OTC PINK:CTRNF)(FSE:68K)

• What is PFAS: "Forever chemicals" that resist breakdown and accumulate in water, soil, and the body. Conventional treatment methods such as filtration and landfilling capture and relocate PFAS rather than removing it from the waste stream.

• Our results: Through independent EPA Method 1633 testing, all 40 targeted PFAS compounds were eliminated to below detection limits in biochar produced from biosolids via CHAR Tech's HTP technology.

• Next steps: Further testing is underway, including testing for PFAS in the gaseous and aqueous phases from the HTP process, with the resulting data being ready to submit to the U.S. EPA targeted for the end of Q4 2026.

• Market context: The global PFAS treatment market is estimated at approximately US$2.8 billion in 2025, projected to reach US$4.8 billion by 2033 (Grand View Research), with destruction technologies among the faster-growing segments.

CHAR Technologies Ltd. ("CHAR Tech" or the "Company"), a leader in sustainable biomass energy solutions, is pleased to report results to date from independent testing of its High Temperature Pyrolysis ("HTP") platform applied to PFAS-contaminated wastewater biosolids, the dried residual solids produced when a treatment plant processes municipal sewage.

Independent laboratory analysis using EPA Method 1633 confirmed that all 40 targeted PFAS compounds were not detected (tested below detection limits) in the biochar samples submitted. The result demonstrates that no PFAS was detected in the solid output of the HTP process, in contrast to conventional approaches such as filtration and landfilling, which capture and relocate PFAS rather than removing it from the waste stream.

Under the testing program, biochar samples were collected after 2-hours of operation of the HTP system to ensure the samples were representative of steady-state conditions. Five different sampling events occurred in 2025, which means a sample was taken on 5 different operating days, and all of these samples were submitted to a 3^rd party accredited laboratory in the United States for testing. EPA Method 1633 is an analytical laboratory standard created to test for 40 specific PFAS compounds, divided across nine distinct chemical classes. The standard uses liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry paired with isotope dilution, with allows for the reliable identification and quantification of both linear and branched chemical isomers. Method 1633 was explicitly engineered and validated for testing of solids (like biosolids), where many other PFAS testing methods are designed for aqueous phase testing.

Testing to date has characterized the biochar, the solid output of the process. Further testing is underway for the gaseous and aqueous phases from the HTP process to complete the data package which the EPA will require for full review of the process, with the package completion and ready to submit targeted for the end of Q4, 2026.

What is PFAS?

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ("PFAS") are a family of thousands of synthetic chemicals used since the 1940s in products like non-stick cookware, waterproof fabrics, food packaging, and firefighting foam. They are known as "forever chemicals" because their carbon-fluorine bonds, among the strongest in chemistry, do not break down under normal environmental conditions, so they accumulate in water, soil, and the human body over time. Conventional treatment methods such as filtration and landfilling capture and relocate PFAS rather than removing it from the waste stream.

"We interact with PFAS forever chemicals every day, in products from cookware to packaging, and they work their way into our soils and water and cycle back to us in what we drink and eat, never breaking down, only accumulating," said Andrew White, CEO of CHAR Tech. "Our testing shows our HTP produces biochar with no detectable PFAS, turning contaminated biosolids into a clean solid biochar product. Ours is a technology built to address a problem regulators are increasingly confronting."

A global contamination problem, and a market moving toward destruction

Regulatory pressure is intensifying: in April 2024 the U.S. EPA set enforceable drinking-water limits for PFOA and PFOS (two categories of PFAS), and the U.S. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided US$10 billion for the cleanup of emerging contaminants, including PFAS (U.S. EPA; U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works).

Within the broader PFAS treatment market, demand is shifting toward permanent destruction as municipalities and industrial operators move away from filtration and disposal methods that concentrate PFAS without removing it. CHAR Tech is developing its HTP platform to address this need, converting biosolids into renewable energy and biochar, with independent testing to date showing no detectable PFAS in the biochar produced.

CHAR Tech continues to advance the development of its HTP platform for PFAS applications and will provide updates as the program progresses.

About CHAR Technologies Ltd.

CHAR Tech (TSXV:YES)(OTC PINK:CTRNF)(FSE:68K) is a Canadian clean-technology company developing first-in-kind high-temperature pyrolysis ("HTP") systems that process unmerchantable wood and organic waste to generate two renewable energy revenue streams, renewable natural gas or green hydrogen, and a solid biocarbon that serves as a carbon-neutral, drop-in replacement for metallurgical coal.

CHAR Tech's HTP platform is also being developed for a new application: the treatment of PFAS in wastewater biosolids. Independent testing under EPA Method 1633 has found no detectable PFAS in the biochar produced, and further testing is underway to characterize the process and support submission to the U.S. EPA.

For further information, please contact:

Website: www.chartechnologies.com

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Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements") about CHAR and its business and operations. The words "may", "would", "will", "intend", "anticipate", "expect", "target", "continue" and similar expressions as they relate to CHAR Tech are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: the results of further PFAS testing, including analysis beyond the solid output of the process; the timing, submission, and outcome of data provided to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the potential for regulatory acceptance of the Company's HTP technology for PFAS applications; the development and potential commercialization of the Company's PFAS application; the timing for full facility construction; securing project financing; expectations regarding offtake agreements; expectations regarding the scale-up of production; and other statements that are not historical facts. Such statements reflect CHAR Tech's current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to CHAR Tech, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, among others: the risk that further testing may not confirm, or may differ from, the results obtained to date; that the timing of testing or of data submission may change; that the U.S. EPA may not accept the Company's data or approve or endorse its technology for PFAS applications; that the Company's PFAS application may not be successfully developed or commercialized; and those risk factors discussed or referred to in CHAR Tech's disclosure documents filed with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada, including the Management Discussion & Analysis dated January 27th, 2026 for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, and available under CHAR Tech's profile on www.sedarplus.ca. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, CHAR Tech does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and CHAR Tech undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law.

SOURCE: CHAR Technologies Ltd.