Multidisciplinary Applications of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the Development, Optimization, and Validation of Sustainable Solutions
A special issue of Clean Technologies (ISSN 2571-8797).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 4
Special Issue Editors
2. ALiCE–Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Interests: life cycle assessment; sustainability; global warming; environmental policy and regulation; wastewater treatment; waste treatment
Interests: life cycle assessment; wastewater treatment; material science; sustainability; drinking water, water reuse
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: life cycle assessment; Sustainable materials; Circular economy; Waste valorization
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Sustainability is a core concept in today’s world. Across all disciplines, it is essential to ensure that new solutions are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. However, following general sustainability criteria is not enough. Sustainability demands a holistic perspective, one that avoids solving one problem at the expense of creating another, and considers the interrelationships of systems. For example, removing pollutants from wastewater may reduce ecotoxicity; however, it may require energy-intensive processes that increase the global warming potential or lead to resource depletion. Similarly, switching to raw materials may shift burdens to other life cycle stages, such as end-of-life.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) plays a vital role as a standardized method for evaluating and supporting sustainability claims. It helps identify trade-offs between impact categories and life cycle stages. The integration of LCA into research and development introduces analytical complexity, but provides crucial insights for optimizing solutions from a life-cycle perspective that aims to ensure sustainability.
This Special Issue aims to showcase multidisciplinary applications of LCA in the development, optimization, and validation of sustainable solutions. We invite contributions that apply LCA across sectors to refine the design of a range of solutions, demonstrating how this methodology is reshaping research, innovation, and decision-making.
Dr. Joana Pesqueira
Dr. Inmaculada Velo-Gala
Dr. A. B. López
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Clean Technologies is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1600 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.
Keywords
- sustainability
- life cycle assessment
- green innovation
- decision support tools
- impact assessment
- life cycle thinking
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