Innovations in Waste Treatment Through Bioprocess Technology: From Sustainable Remediation to Resource Recovery

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Biological Processes and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 1565

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Bioprocess Engineering Technology Division, School of Industrial Technlogy, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Penang, Malaysia
Interests: fermentation technology; waste treatment through bioprocess technology; bioprocess technology

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Guest Editor
Department of Natural Resource Ecology & Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
Interests: natural products; wood; composite
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Biomass Transportation Cluster, School Of Industrial Technlogy, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Penang, Malaysia
Interests: anaerobic digestion; wastewater treatment; bioreactor operation; membrane filtration; industry microbiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to showcase the latest innovations in waste treatment through the application of bioprocess technology, with a specific focus on sustainable remediation and resource recovery. The objective is to provide a platform for researchers and practitioners to share their original research, reviews, and perspectives on various aspects of waste treatment using bioprocess technology.

Effective waste treatment is essential for environmental sustainability and resource conservation. This Special Issue emphasizes the exploration of innovative approaches in bioprocess technology for waste treatment, encompassing areas such as sustainable remediation, resource recovery, biodegradation, bioremediation, and the role of microbial communities.

We invite contributions that present cutting-edge research, novel methodologies, and significant insights into the development and application of bioprocess technology for waste treatment.

Topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Sustainable remediation: innovations in utilizing bioprocess technology for the sustainable remediation of contaminated sites, including the application of microbial processes, biodegradation, and bioremediation techniques;
  2. Resource recovery: advances in the recovery of valuable resources from waste through bioprocess technology, such as the extraction of energy, chemicals, nutrients, or other useful products;
  3. Biodegradation and bioremediation: research on the use of microbial processes and bioprocess technology to degrade and remove pollutants, contaminants, and hazardous substances from various waste streams;
  4. Microbial communities in waste treatment: studies investigating the role of microbial communities and their dynamics in waste treatment processes, including their interaction with pollutants and their impact on overall system performance;
  5. Environmental sustainability: approaches and strategies to enhance the environmental sustainability of waste treatment through bioprocess technology, considering factors such as energy efficiency, carbon footprint, and waste minimization;
  6. Process optimization: development and application of optimization strategies, modeling, and simulation to improve the performance, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of waste treatment using bioprocess technology.

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a comprehensive overview of recent innovations and emerging trends in waste treatment through bioprocess technology, with a specific focus on sustainable remediation and resource recovery. We encourage submissions that present both experimental and theoretical studies, as well as interdisciplinary works that combine multiple approaches.

We invite researchers and practitioners to contribute original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and short communications that address the challenges, opportunities, and recent advancements in waste treatment using bioprocess technology.

Dr. Husnul Azan Tajarudin
Prof. Dr. Salim Hiziroglu
Dr. Siti Baizura Mahat
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 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. Processes 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 2400 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

  • waste treatment
  • bioprocess technology
  • sustainable remediation
  • resource recovery
  • biodegradation
  • bioremediation
  • microbial communities
  • environmental sustainability

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 3148 KiB  
Article
Engineering a Cross-Feeding Synthetic Bacterial Consortium for Degrading Mixed PET and Nylon Monomers
by Ida Putu Wiweka Dharmasiddhi, Jinjin Chen, Bahareh Arab, Ching Lan, Christian Euler, C. Perry Chou and Yilan Liu
Processes 2025, 13(2), 375; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13020375 - 30 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1004
Abstract
Plastics are indispensable to modern life, but their widespread use has created an environmental crisis due to inefficient waste management. Mixed plastic waste, comprising diverse polymers, presents significant recycling challenges due to the high costs of sorting and processing, leading to ecosystem accumulation [...] Read more.
Plastics are indispensable to modern life, but their widespread use has created an environmental crisis due to inefficient waste management. Mixed plastic waste, comprising diverse polymers, presents significant recycling challenges due to the high costs of sorting and processing, leading to ecosystem accumulation and harmful by-product generation. This study addresses this issue by engineering a synthetic bacterial consortium (SBC) designed to degrade mixed plastic monomers. The consortium pairs Escherichia coli Nissle 1917, which uses ethylene glycol (EG), a monomer derived from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), as a carbon source, with Pseudomonas putida KT2440, which metabolizes hexamethylenediamine (HD), a monomer from nylon-6,6, as a nitrogen source. Adaptive evolution of the SBC revealed a novel metabolic interaction where P. putida developed the ability to degrade both EG and HD, while E. coli played a critical role in degrading glycolate, mitigating its by-product toxicity. The evolved cross-feeding pattern enhanced biomass production, metabolic efficiency, and community stability compared to monocultures. The consortium’s performance was validated through flux balance analysis (FBA), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and growth assays. These findings highlight the potential of cross-feeding SBCs in addressing complex plastic waste, offering a promising avenue for sustainable bioremediation and advancing future polymer degradation strategies. Full article
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