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From Waste to Resource: Processing Waste and By-Products into Valuable Products

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Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable development is one of the most important challenges of the 21st century. On the other hand, society’s impact on the environment is becoming increasingly evident, and the amount and variety of waste produced increases every year. This waste requires management in accordance with the law. However, due to measures for environmental protection and sustainable development, landfilling has become the least preferred solution. Instead, recycling and recovery have become the preferred methods of waste management, as these processes enable valuable products to be obtained from waste materials. This Special Issue, “From Waste to Resource: Processing Waste and By-Products into Valuable Products”, will cover topics related to waste management, biomass conversion, and the circular economy.

This Special Issue invites both research and review articles focused on a broad range of topics covering waste recycling and the conversion of waste into useful products via sustainable technologies. Studies on the circular economy and possible industrial solutions are also welcomed. Possible themes of interest include, but are not limited to:

Sustainable waste recycling and resource processes;
Waste recycling and management;
Material flow analysis of wastes/resources (metals and other materials);
Sustainable development of the environment and energy economy;
Sustainable bioeconomy and the value conversion of organic waste;
Environmental pollution and environmental protection;
By-products from waste.

Prof. Dr. Wojciech Czekała
Prof. Dr. Yen Wah Tong
Dr. Paula Varandas Ferreira
Guest Editors

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11 pages, 4873 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Potential Expansion of Low-Carbon Liquid Fuel Production Using Hydrogen-Enhanced Biomass/Municipal Solid Waste Gasification

by Mohammad Ostadi, Daniel R. Cohn, Guiyan Zang and Leslie Bromberg

Sustainability 2025, 17(13), 5718; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17135718 (registering DOI) - 21 Jun 2025

Abstract

Low-carbon liquid fuels are needed for decarbonization of hard-to-decarbonize segments of the transportation sector. This decarbonization can be limited by the amount of renewable carbon. Thermochemical conversion of biomass/municipal solid waste (MSW) through gasification is a promising route for producing low-carbon fuels. There are two major opportunities for increasing the amount of low-carbon liquid fuel that can be produced from gasification in any region. One is to increase the amount of liquid fuel from a given amount of biomass/MSW, particularly by hydrogen-enhancement of gasification synthesis gas. Second is the potential for large expansion of use of biomass feedstocks from its present level. Such biomass feedstocks include agricultural waste, forestry waste, MSW, and specially grown biomass that does not interfere with food production. The use of MSW may provide advantages of an established network for pickup and transportation of feedstock to disposal sites and the avoidance of methane produced from landfilling of MSW. As a case study, we looked at potential expansion of US low-carbon fuel production, considering the recent projections of the 2024 USDOE report, which estimated potential production of a billion tons/yr of biomass/MSW feedstocks in the US. This report included an estimated potential for liquid biofuel production of 60 billion gallons/yr of diesel energy equivalent fuel without the use of hydrogen enhancement. By hydrogen-enhanced biomass/MSW gasification, this projection could be doubled to 120 billion gallons/yr of diesel energy equivalent fuel. Furthermore, the co-location potential of biomass/MSW resources with potential renewable energy generation sites is explored. This overlap of hydrogen production and biomass production in the US are located in regions such as the US Midwest, Texas, and California. This co-location strategy enhances logistical feasibility, reducing transport costs and optimizing energy system integration; and can be applied to other geographical locations. Hydrogen-enhanced biomass/MSW gasification offers a promising route to substantially increase low-carbon liquid fuel production (e.g., methanol) and support increased liquid fuel production and greenhouse gas reduction goals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Waste to Resource: Processing Waste and By-Products into Valuable Products)

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