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Alternative Use of Biological Resources: 2nd Edition
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Alternative Use of Biological Resources: 2nd Edition

A Special Issue of Resources (ISSN 2079-9276).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 November 2026 | Viewed by 3479

Editors

Prof. Dr. Zoltán Lakner

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Business and Economics, Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 1118 Budapest, Hungary
Interests: econometrics; resource economics; economic statistics; artificial interest; decision support systems; development policy in Africa; bio-resources
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Anita Boros

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), Páter Károly str. 1, H-2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
Interests: green economy; innovations; sustainable agriculture; resource management; green financing; biological resources; agro-economy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Dávid Tőzsér

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Ecology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem sq. 1, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Interests: phytoremediation; sustainability; sustainable agriculture; green financing; biological resources
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last decade, the alternative (non-food and non-energy) use of biological resources has been receiving progressively increasing attention among economic stakeholders and the scientific community. However, a knowledge gap still exists in this field. Furthermore, despite the rapid growth in research and development and the emergence of successful business models, communication among experts remains insufficient. A significant reason for this is the separation of disciplines such as chemistry, materials science, dermatology, and marketing. Based on the success of the first edition, this second edition of the Special Issue “Alternative Use of Biological Resources” also seeks to address these shortcomings by exploring how traditional bio-based resources—applied in sectors such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, furniture, and construction—along with innovative applications, such as wool-based sound insulation or natural plastic alternatives, can contribute to global challenges including poverty reduction, sustainable cities, and carbon neutrality. Therefore, the Guest Editors of this Special Issue aim to adopt a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective by leveraging the experiences of the first edition and considering the significant changes in the world economy and society that have occurred since its launch in 2023. Supporting the aforementioned ambitions, papers that place a strong focus on feedstocks and/or products as resources, with simultaneous consideration of how the experimental results relate to resource availability or improvement in some aspect of production/lifecycle relative to the status quo, are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Zoltán Lakner
Prof. Dr. Anita Boros
Dr. Dávid Tőzsér
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Resources 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 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.

Keywords

  • sustainable economy
  • green transition
  • resource use
  • supplementary materials
  • resource innovations

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Review

25 pages, 3888 KB  
Review
From Environmental Burden to Valuable Feedstock: A Rapid Review of Wood Waste and Residue Markets
by Galit Gatut Prakosa, Pipiet Larasatie, Scott M. Barrett and Brian Bond
Resources 2026, 15(9), 123; https://doi.org/10.3390/resources15090123 (registering DOI) - 18 Sep 2026
Abstract
Wood waste and residues are increasingly viewed as feedstocks for the circular bioecon-omy, yet their market development remains uneven. This rapid review synthesized 125 studies published between 1967 and 2025 to examine research trends, feedstock characteristics, market constraints, and emerging opportunities through Marketing [...] Read more.
Wood waste and residues are increasingly viewed as feedstocks for the circular bioecon-omy, yet their market development remains uneven. This rapid review synthesized 125 studies published between 1967 and 2025 to examine research trends, feedstock characteristics, market constraints, and emerging opportunities through Marketing Mix and Innovation perspectives. Research was concentrated in North America and Europe (68.0%), and quantitative approaches accounted for 75.2% of the studies. Logistics and infrastructure were the most frequently reported constraints (61.6%), followed by competition (38.4%), supply–demand conditions (32.0%), and lack of standardization (14.4%). Energy-related applications remained prominent (87.2%), while 45.6% of studies also addressed material or bioproduct applications, indicating diversification rather than replacement of established uses. The synthesis shows that technological advances alone do not create viable markets. Residue characteristics, transportation, processing capacity, competing uses, pricing and distribution arrangements, institutional coordination, policy, and financing jointly shape utilization pathways. Marketing Mix and Innovation perspectives provide complementary explanations of how these markets are configured and how they change. Wood residues can become valuable feedstocks, but their value is context dependent and relies on alignment between specific residue streams and viable markets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Alternative Use of Biological Resources: 2nd Edition)
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43 pages, 45961 KB  
Review
Valorisation of Food Processing Wastes into High-Value Platform Chemicals: Industrial Pathways and Circular Bioeconomy Perspectives
by Sudatta Maity, Priti Pal, Akhilesh Kumar Singh, Anand Prakash, Krystyna Kondratowicz-Maciejewska, Piotr Prus and Prakash Kumar Sarangi
Resources 2026, 15(8), 98; https://doi.org/10.3390/resources15080098 - 1 Aug 2026
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Abstract
The world’s food industry faces significant obstacles today as it strives to meet the nutritional needs of its rapidly expanding global population while also managing an immense amount of food processing waste (FPW) generated throughout the entire food supply chain. The widespread use [...] Read more.
The world’s food industry faces significant obstacles today as it strives to meet the nutritional needs of its rapidly expanding global population while also managing an immense amount of food processing waste (FPW) generated throughout the entire food supply chain. The widespread use of traditional disposal techniques for food waste (landfilling and incineration) regularly faces challenges related to environmental sustainability and economic efficiency. This manuscript reviews the necessary transition from a linear “take-make-dispose” approach to food production to a more circular model that recycles food waste into high-value intermediate chemicals and renewable energy through the development of biorefineries. The manuscript explores the biochemical composition of food waste, with carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and bioactive materials, making it a suitable feedstock for different multi-stage biorefinery operations. In addition, this review will evaluate a variety of existing conversion technologies for food processing waste, such as biological methods (e.g., anaerobic digestion and fermentation) and thermochemical methods (e.g., pyrolysis, gasification, and hydrothermal liquefaction), to create various platform chemicals, including organic acids, bio-alcohols and volatile fatty acids (VFAs), as well as the production of sustainable biofuels and biopolymers. The review also elucidates the three most determinative constraints on large-scale industrial implementation of food waste valorisation: feedstock variability, techno-economic feasibility, and the need for comprehensive life cycle assessments (LCAs). The alignment of food waste management strategies with the UN SDGs (in particular, SDG 12 ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’ and SDG 13 ‘Climate Action’) reflects the opportunity for food waste to serve as a foundation for a carbon-neutral, sustainable future. This review provides a strategic roadmap for academics, practitioners, and policymakers to tap into the full potential of food waste through a sustainable circular economy model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Alternative Use of Biological Resources: 2nd Edition)
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26 pages, 734 KB  
Review
Bio-Based Construction Materials in the Context of the EU Bioeconomy: Overcoming Systemic Barriers to Mainstream Adoption
by Fernando Pacheco Torgal
Resources 2026, 15(6), 72; https://doi.org/10.3390/resources15060072 - 22 May 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1694
Abstract
The construction sector must simultaneously meet rising global demand and cut embodied carbon deeply enough to satisfy European Green Deal and Bioeconomy Strategy targets—two pressures that conventional petrochemical-derived materials are poorly placed to resolve. Bio-based alternatives offer a credible path: they sequester carbon, [...] Read more.
The construction sector must simultaneously meet rising global demand and cut embodied carbon deeply enough to satisfy European Green Deal and Bioeconomy Strategy targets—two pressures that conventional petrochemical-derived materials are poorly placed to resolve. Bio-based alternatives offer a credible path: they sequester carbon, carry lower embodied emissions, improve indoor air quality, and fit naturally within circular economy models. Yet they remain marginal in specification practice. This paper reviews the evidence on bio-based construction materials and maps the barriers that keep them there. The analysis organises these barriers into four levels—structural, economic, technical, and enabling—and traces the conditional relationships between them, with direct consequences for how policy interventions should be sequenced. The strategic case for this transition extends beyond environmental policy: the 2026 Strait of Hormuz disruption is used here as a scenario to show how dependent European construction is on fossil-derived material inputs, and how exposed that dependence leaves the sector to geopolitical supply shocks. The principal obstacles to adoption prove to be institutional and economic rather than technical—regulatory fragmentation, absent harmonised standards, fragile supply chains, and market structures that systematically undervalue bio-based solutions. The paper concludes that meaningful scaling requires coordinated action across governance, market design, and industrial policy, and that material and performance advances alone will not deliver it. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Alternative Use of Biological Resources: 2nd Edition)
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