Sustainable Polymers in Waste Management and Recycling
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Circular and Green Sustainable Polymer Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 76
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue on sustainable polymers in waste management and recycling seeks to share high-quality, original research in this important field. Sustainable polymers, often made from renewable resources like plant-based feedstocks, are becoming more popular in fields such as biomedical engineering, food packaging, cosmetics, agriculture, energy, and recycling. These materials are attracting attention from industries aiming to meet environmental and health regulations, especially as, compared to traditional plastics, they generally have a lower carbon footprint. By using biodegradable, recyclable, and bio-based materials, they help reduce plastic pollution, improve recycling efforts, and support more sustainable economies. However, challenges such as contamination and infrastructure limitations must be addressed to fully unlock the potential of these polymers in global waste management systems.
We invite both original research and comprehensive reviews for this Special Issue. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Processing and performance of bio-based polymers;
- Functions of sustainable polymer materials;
- Degradation of bio-based polymers;
- Impacts of bio-based polymers on waste management;
- Challenges in recycling sustainable polymers.
Dr. Elsa F. Vieira
Guest Editor
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. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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.
Keywords
- bio-based polymeric materials
- renewable resources
- green engineering
- design for recycling
- functional polymeric materials
- biodegradability
- biocompatibility
- sustainable polymer recycling
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