Advances in Waste Valorization into High-Value Chemicals
A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical Processes and Systems".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 December 2025 | Viewed by 146
Special Issue Editor
2. Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences, Foundation for Research and Technology (FORTH/ICE-HT), Platani, 26504 Patras, Greece
Interests: sustainable treatment of wastewater; biofuels and biomolecules production via microbial processes (biohydrogen, bioethanol, polyhydroxyalkanoates, antioxidants); fermentation; biological and thermochemical fractionation of lignocellulose; recovery of nutrients from wastes; purification and reuse of water; risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Scope, Context, and Call:
This Special Issue aims to showcase cutting-edge research and innovative approaches in waste valorization, with a focus on converting waste and wastewater into high-value chemicals and materials. It promotes the 3R concept—Reducing energy and environmental impacts, Reusing water and recovered materials, and Recovering valuable resources such as energy, nutrients, metals, and specialty chemicals, including biopolymers. By integrating advanced thermal, physical, biological, and chemical processes, this Issue aspires to explore transformative technologies aimed at resource efficiency and circular economy.
We invite researchers, industry practitioners, and policymakers to contribute original research, comprehensive reviews, and insightful case studies. Contributions should cover technologies at various stages of development, from pilot to full-scale, and highlight their technical performance alongside economic, environmental, and social impacts. We particularly welcome studies on innovative process design, including retrofitting conventional systems with novel units, re-thinking existing flowsheets for enhanced efficiency, and re-imagining processes with entirely new, sustainable concepts. Manuscripts offering tools and methodologies for modeling, optimization, and holistic sustainability assessment are highly encouraged. Based on the above, this Special Issue is expected to provide a platform for researchers and industry practitioners to share advancements that drive waste valorization towards the production of high-value chemicals and contribute to sustainable development.
Publishing in this Special Issue offers several benefits: high visibility within an interdisciplinary audience, rapid and rigorous peer review by leading experts, and the opportunity to shape future directions in waste valorization and circular economy research. Join us in advancing the field and fostering collaboration between academia and industry.
Topics of Interest:
- Innovative thermal, physical, biological, and chemical processes for resource recovery from waste and wastewater;
- Technologies for reducing energy requirements, environmental impact, and space usage in treatment systems;
- Advanced methods for recovering energy, nutrients, metals, and high-value chemicals;
- Production and characterization of biopolymers and other specialty materials from waste;
- Valorization of organic micropollutants and approaches to minimize gas and odor emissions;
- Pilot- and full-scale demonstrations of waste valorization technologies;
- Holistic assessment tools for economic, environmental, legal, and social impacts;
- Innovative plant design strategies: retrofitting, re-thinking, and re-imagining process flowsheets;
- Optimization and modeling techniques for sustainable waste valorization systems;
- Case studies on circular economy applications and industrial symbiosis;
- Water and sludge reuse strategies ensuring quality and safety standards;
- Integration of waste valorization systems with renewable energy technologies.
Dr. Ioanna Ntaikou
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. 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 valorization
- resource recovery
- circular economy
- high-value chemicals
- innovative process design
- sustainable development
- process optimization
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