Biological Treatment for Sustainable Waste Management and Green Environment
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Waste and Recycling".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 14 February 2026 | Viewed by 367
Special Issue Editor
Interests: biological treatment and resource utilization of organic solid wastes, such as sewage sludge, food waste, rural human faeces; fate and potential risk of emerging pollutants such as microplastics, PPCPs during the resource utilization of organic solids wastes
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
With increasing global waste generation, sustainable waste management has become a critical challenge. Biological treatment methods, such as composting, anaerobic digestion, and microbial bioremediation, offer eco-friendly solutions by converting waste into valuable resources (e.g., biogas, fertilizers) while reducing pollution. These approaches align with circular economy principles and support climate change mitigation by minimizing landfill use and greenhouse gas emissions.
This Special Issue aims to explore innovative biological treatment technologies that enhance waste valorization and environmental sustainability. It will highlight advancements in microbial processes and integrated waste-to-energy systems. By focusing on scalable and low-carbon solutions, this Issue contributes to Sustainability’s scope of promoting ecological balance, resource efficiency, and sustainable development.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Aerobic and anaerobic waste treatment technologies;
- Microbial and enzymatic waste conversion;
- Circular bioeconomy and waste valorization;
- Life cycle assessment (LCA) of biological waste management;
- Policy and economic frameworks for sustainable waste practices;
- Case studies on large-scale bio-treatment applications.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Xiaowei Li
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. Sustainability 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 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 management
- anaerobic digestion
- composting
- microbial conversion
- circular bioeconomy
- life cycle assessment
- carbon emission reduction
- sustainable waste practices
- enzymatic treatment
- organic waste
- green conversion
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