Anaerobic Digestion and Advanced Materials for Sustainable Biomass and Waste Management

Dear Colleagues,

The transition towards a circular bioeconomy and climate-neutral society requires innovative approaches that combine sustainable biomass utilization, efficient waste management, renewable energy production, and the development of advanced functional materials. As global concerns regarding resource depletion, environmental pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow, the integration of biological processes and material-based technologies has become increasingly important for achieving sustainable development goals.

Anaerobic digestion is one of the most widely applied and effective technologies for converting organic waste streams into renewable energy and valuable bioproducts. Beyond biogas production, anaerobic digestion contributes to waste reduction, nutrient recycling, and resource recovery, making it a key component of sustainable biomass and waste management systems. Recent advances in process optimization, monitoring, co-digestion strategies, and digestate valorization have further expanded its potential across agricultural, municipal, and industrial sectors.

At the same time, rapid developments in materials science have made way for a new generation of advanced materials with enhanced functionality and performance for environmental and bioengineering applications. Biochar, nanomaterials, functional composites, catalysts, adsorbents, membranes, and other engineered materials are increasingly being used to improve biomass conversion processes, enhance anaerobic digestion performance, facilitate pollutant removal, recover valuable resources, and support the development of more efficient and resilient treatment systems.

The integration of anaerobic digestion technologies with advanced materials offers promising opportunities for addressing current environmental challenges while promoting resource efficiency and circular economy principles. Innovative materials-based solutions can improve process stability, increase energy recovery, enable carbon sequestration, enhance nutrient recycling, and create value-added products from biomass and waste streams.

This Special Issue aims to provide an interdisciplinary platform for researchers, engineers, and practitioners working in the fields of anaerobic digestion, advanced materials, biomass valorization, environmental biotechnology, and sustainable waste management. We welcome original research articles, review papers, communications, and case studies that contribute to the development of innovative technologies and sustainable solutions for biomass and waste utilization.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Anaerobic digestion of agricultural, municipal, industrial, and food wastes;
• Biogas and biomethane production, upgrading, and utilization;
• Process optimization, monitoring, control, and modeling of anaerobic digestion systems;
• Co-digestion and integrated biomass conversion technologies;
• Digestate management, nutrient recovery, and circular economy approaches;
• Advanced materials for enhancing anaerobic digestion performance;
• Biochar and carbon-based functional materials;
• Adsorbents, catalysts, and engineered materials for biomass and waste treatment;
• Membrane technologies for resource recovery and wastewater treatment;
• Nanomaterials and nanotechnology in environmental and bioengineering applications;
• Biomass valorization and waste-to-resource technologies;
• Sustainable materials derived from biomass and waste streams;
• Carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration technologies;
• Environmental remediation and pollution control;
• Renewable energy generation from biomass and organic wastes;
• Life cycle assessment, techno-economic analysis, and sustainability evaluation of biomass and waste management systems.

By bringing together advances in anaerobic digestion, environmental biotechnology, and material science, this Special Issue seeks to highlight innovative solutions that support sustainable biomass utilization, efficient waste management, renewable energy generation, resource recovery, and the transition toward a circular and low-carbon economy.

Dr. Tina Kegl
Prof. Dr. Breda Kegl
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Bioengineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• anaerobic digestion
• advanced materials
• biomass valorization
• waste management
• biochar
• functional materials
• nanomaterials
• adsorbents
• catalysts
• membrane technologies
• biogas production
• resource recovery
• circular bioeconomy
• environmental engineering
• sustainable waste treatment