Towards the Sustainable Treatment of Organic Wastes via Various Novel Biotechnologies, 2nd Edition
A special issue of Fermentation (ISSN 2311-5637). This special issue belongs to the section "Industrial Fermentation".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 March 2026) | Viewed by 2897
Editors
Interests: anaerobic fermentation; bioenergy and resource recovery from organic waste; biogas upgrading; biochemicals production
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: wastewater treatment; membrane bioreactor; advanced wastewater treatment technologies; treatment and disposal of sludge; membrane separation technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The vast production of various organic wastes, such as food waste, agricultural residues, and municipal solid waste, is an ongoing global concern prompting constant research and engineering efforts. The conventional treatment technologies that have historically dominated the field play an essential role in disposing of or stabilizing these wastes; however, they neglect the potential resources preserved in these wastes. Due to the challenges of climate change and escalating energy prices, a reevaluation of the traditional approaches to waste and the wastes themselves is impending.
At present, biotechnologies offer a promising paradigm shift in waste (water) treatment. These include fungal, bacterial, or enzymatic pretreatments; anaerobic digestion; fermentation; and electrochemical biotechnologies—which not only significantly reduce the pollutants in wastes and elevate their potential but also convert these wastes into valuable products, such as bioenergy, biofuels, and biochemicals, with relatively low energy expenses. The recent advancements in biotechnologies, including fungal and various enzymatic pretreatments, fermentation, and anaerobic electrochemical technologies, as well as the value-added products harvested from the processes used to treat wastes, are substantially broadening in application and furthering our understanding of their potential. All these innovations provide viable options for efficient and sustainable approaches to organic waste treatment while facilitating energy and resource recovery.
The objective of this Special Issue is to spotlight recent groundbreaking research and review papers focusing on various biotechnologies, including bio-pretreatment approaches aiming to recover either energy (e.g., methane, hydrogen, electricity) or resources (e.g., biochemicals such as ethanol, lactic acid, succinic acid, VFAs, MCFA, PHA) from organic wastes. Additionally, we encourage the submission of papers discussing the development of low-carbon or energy-neutral or -positive waste treatment systems based on biotechnologies, as well as LCA studies on the wastes themselves. Authors interested in submitting review papers are welcome and should contact the editors beforehand to ensure that their topics align with the scope of the journal.
Prof. Dr. Xuedong Zhang
Dr. Xuefeng Zhu
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. Fermentation 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 2100 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
- organic waste treatment
- food waste
- agricultural waste
- biotechnology
- anaerobic fermentation
- enzymatic pretreatment
- bioenergy recovery
- resource recovery
- carbon neutralization
- sustainability
- life cycle assessment (LCA)
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
