Green Polymers Towards Circular Economy: Management, Recycling and Application
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: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 169
Special Issue Editors
Interests: green polymer recycling; mechanochemical recycling; closed-loop and upcycling processes; energy-efficient materials and surfaces; circular and bioeconomy applications; sustainable materials design; smart and responsive polymers; photothermal and antibacterial coatings; natural polymer-based material design; polymer synthesis and functionalization
Interests: chemical recycling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Polymeric materials represent a crucial class of substances that lie at the center of modern daily life. It is almost impossible to maintain our everyday routines in a practical way without them. However, the environmental damage and economic losses resulting from the massive production of plastics are reaching increasingly critical and alarming levels. The world’s current inefficiency in recycling, the inability to effectively reincorporate plastic waste into the value chain, and the growing global burden of plastic pollution pose severe threats to both the environment and life itself. These threats, ranging from microplastic contamination to landfill-derived pollution, highlight the urgent need for effective, industrially applicable, and groundbreaking methods to manage and mitigate plastic waste.
In alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action), advancing sustainable polymer technologies is vital for achieving a circular and resource-efficient economy. This Special Issue, ‘Green Polymers Towards Circular Economy: Management, Recycling and Application,’ aims to bring together innovative research that supports these global targets by promoting eco-friendly synthesis routes, efficient recycling strategies, and high-value applications of green polymers.
The scope includes, but is not limited to, the following topics: advancements in chemical recycling methods aimed at improving efficiency, selectivity, and industrial applicability; approaches to overcome the limitations of mechanical recycling; mitigation of microplastic emissions through material design and recycling innovation; upcycling of polymer waste into bio-based or high-value products; improvement of biopolymer performance; process optimization for energy-efficient and solvent-free recycling; smart and responsive polymers that enable circular functionality; green synthesis and functionalization using renewable feedstocks and eco-friendly routes; design for recyclability through improved polymer architecture; integration of recycling technologies into industrial systems supported by life-cycle and techno-economic analyses.
Dr. Cüneyt Erdinç Tas
Dr. Olivia Adly Attallah Soliman
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-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
- green polymers
- circular economy
- waste management
- chemical recycling
- improved mechanical recycling
- upcycling
- value-added material production from recyclates
- microplastic mitigation
- bio-based polymers
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