Membrane Processes in a Circular Economy: Opportunities and Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable resource management necessitates the development of modern technologies to enable the management of treated sewage (recovery and recycling of water, closure of water cycles, etc.); reduction in the loss of nutrients and environmental pollution; energy recovery and energy-saving technological processes; and the effective management of waste biomass. Such activities constitute the basis for eco-development, enabling the transformation towards a circular economy in line with global trends.

Optimizing the functionality of wastewater treatment systems currently in use encompasses a wide range of topics enabling the development of technological solutions, thanks to which recovered water can be reused in agriculture to irrigate fields and crops, in industry for production or technical purposes, and in everyday life for drinking purposes.

A rational approach to sustainable resource management is particularly important in those industrial sectors where significant resource consumption is observed, combined with the generation of waste with the potential for valorization. The transition from a linear economic model, i.e., "produce, use and throw away", to a model with a closed loop of raw materials requires the development of advanced technological solutions, enabling the recovery of raw materials from waste production streams and their return to the process, as well as the management of any waste products resulting from processing primary waste streams. In the new economic approach, the value of products and raw materials is preserved for as long as possible, while the amount of waste generated is minimized, and waste that currently has no rational use is immobilized and safely stored.

This Special Issue aims to review the latest achievements in the field of membrane technological solutions, enabling the minimization of industrial pollutant emissions into the natural environment through highly effective wastewater treatment and post-filtration waste management.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following topics:

• circular economy;
• water reclamation;
• nutrients recovery;
• wastewater treatment;
• membrane processes;
• new types of membranes;
• membrane manufacturing;
• membrane fouling control.

Dr. Anna Kowalik-Klimczak
Prof. Dr. Maciej Szwast
Prof. Dr. Marzena Smol
Guest Editors

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