Celebrating 10 Years of Recycling: Shaping the Future of Waste Management

Dear Colleagues, 

Waste management has emerged as a defining challenge in the 21st century—a shadow crisis intertwined with growing urbanisation, consumerism, population growth, and environmental degradation. As our global population surges, fuelled by rapid industrial economic growth and substantial increases in global living standards, humanity is reaching a critical crossroads—one that is generating more waste than ever before, overwhelming landfills, polluting oceans, and generating significant greenhouse gases in a world of finite capacity to absorb the wastes we are producing. In parallel, we are slowly starting to address growing community expectations for environmental stewardship, public good-focused governance, sovereign production, and critical material resource recovery—all of which demand urgent changes to our economic and production systems. 

The circular economy and zero-waste production models will in this century be critically needed to meet resource needs and to address an increasing awareness of the substantial environmental degradation affecting both marine and terrestrial environments and caused by plastic and other waste. Our own health and that of our planet will acutely demand the rapid deployment of reduced resource consumption, increased recycling and resource recovery activities, and an amplified ethic of restraint and sustainable development.

Like greenhouse gas emissions, waste is a global problem. Decreasing resource levels, constant linear growth in our material demands, and the continued impact on fragile ecosystems will demand more effective waste management, recycling, and resource recovery.

This transition will not be so much an innovation or technology challenge, but a moral and strategic imperative that is at the core of our collective future. We will need to recycle ideas of sufficiency, zero waste, thrift, and frugality. These are the terms that will shape our waste management future. 

This Special Issue will review many of these topics and provide a clear focus on the critical importance of waste management innovation, policy, regulation, and circularity in shaping our views of sustainable development.

Prof. Dr. Michele John
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Recycling 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 1800 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.

• waste management
• waste technology
• circular economy
• waste management innovation
• behavioural change in waste management
• waste policy and regulations