Circular Economy Approaches of Wastewater Cleaning and Recycling

Dear Colleagues,

The combination of increasing water scarcity, rapid global population growth, and expanding environmental challenges resulting from climate change necessitates a major restructuring of the conventional wastewater management framework. Conventional wastewater treatment facilities traditionally adhere to a linear economy model, focused primarily on meeting stringent discharge standards, which often require significant energy consumption and chemical input. However, in line with global sustainability goals, the Circular Economy approach views wastewater not as a waste product but as an untapped source of critical resources, including clean water, nutrients, energy, and valuable bioproducts. This transition from a linear to a circular model is critical for improving resource efficiency, lowering environmental footprints, and ensuring the resilience of water-energy-food systems in the face of future challenges.

This Special Issue, “Circular Economy Approaches of Wastewater Cleaning and Recycling”, seeks high-quality scholarly contributions focusing on the application of Circular Economy principles to the treatment and recycling of wastewater streams. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Advanced techniques for the recovery of essential nutrients and valuable metals from municipal and industrial wastewaters.
• Wastewater-based energy recovery systems, including biogas production, microbial fuel cells, and innovative energy harvesting technologies.
• Novel membrane processes, Advanced Oxidation Processes, and hybrid treatment systems for safe water reuse in industrial, agricultural, and potable applications.
• The synthesis and recovery of high-value bioproducts, bioplastics, and specialized chemicals from wastewater or sludge.
• Techno-economic and environmental sustainability assessment of Circular Economy integration models in existing wastewater treatment infrastructure.
• The application of Artificial Intelligence for optimizing resource recovery and Circular Economy performance in wastewater systems.
• Evaluation of environmental risks and the establishment of regulatory frameworks supporting the widespread implementation of water and resource recycling applications.

Dr. Emine Can-Güven
Dr. Senem Yazici Yazici Guvenc
Prof. Dr. Gamze Varank
Guest Editors

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