Vitreous and Glass-Based Materials for the Circular Economy

Dear Colleagues,

Searching for routes of optimal waste management with or without their further reuse is an important aspect of the current stage of civilisation development and progress. Non-radioactive waste streams can be transformed into an inert form via contaminants binding or encapsulation. Such stabilisation reduces the potential hazard of toxic waste components by converting contaminants into insoluble forms. This can be done using durable solids of high structural integrity. Waste processing technologies which produce durable materials with a minimal ecological impact are preferred among affordable options. Inertisation provides minimal environmental impact of materials and therefore is a key technological component both for any reusage and/or disposal of waste materials. In contrast to non-radioactive waste the nuclear waste is associated with intrinsic harmful radiations and if not cleared from regulatory control for its negligible hazard is always intended to disposal which is considered as the end point of nuclear waste management. Technologies which effectively immobilise toxic waste components and radionuclides are hence most appreciated. With many research programmes under way this Topical Collection invites contributing articles and Encyclopedia entries reporting on current advances and perspectives in utilisation of vitreous and glass-based materials, especially accounting for their applications in circular economy including hazardous waste processing as well as nuclear waste immobilisation. All aspects of materials synthesis and structural and property investigation are welcome with focus on utilisation of materials in practical applications.

Prof. Dr. Michael Ojovan
Prof. Dr. Kai Xu
Prof. Dr. Anirban Chakrabarti
Collection 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. 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 Topical Collection website. Review articles and Entry papers 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. Encyclopedia 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 1200 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.

Publisher's Notice

Following discussions between the Encyclopedia Editorial Office and the Collection Editors, a new Collection Editor, Prof. Dr. Anirban Chakrabarti, has been added to the Topical Collection. This change has been approved by the journal Editorial Board, and the Topical Collection website has been updated accordingly on 10 October 2026. The Topical Collection will continue to be handled by the current Collection Editors in accordance with MDPI’s Special Issue and editorial policies.