Towards Sustainable Waste Systems: Advancing Solutions for Circular Economy, Resource Recovery, and Environmental Protection
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Waste and Recycling".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 January 2026 | Viewed by 66
Special Issue Editor
Interests: waste (waste morphology, waste properties, rational waste management); circular economy; waste management through the production of new materials; sewage sludge
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The aim of this issue is to broaden knowledge of the circular economy in environmental, social, and economic terms, with a particular focus on waste management. The scope of this special issue will certainly complement the current literature as it deals with the circular economy as a system that aims to eliminate waste and pollution through the efficient use of resources. The reuse and recycling of products slows down the use of natural resources, reduces the destruction of landscapes and habitats, and helps to limit the loss of biodiversity. Solutions should be promoted that support the natural landscape and environmental protection in a holistic sense for the entire environmental components: water, air, soil.
Creating more efficient and sustainable products from the outset would help reduce energy and resource consumption. Switching to more reliable products that can be reused, refurbished and repaired would reduce waste. The circular economy of packaging waste helps to address the problem of excessive packaging and improve packaging design to promote reuse and recycling.
Particular attention should be paid to problematic waste such as small fraction waste, for which there are no designed recycling systems and which still end up in landfills. Attention should also be paid to waste from renewable energy sources as this problem will grow over time.
The supply of key raw materials is limited, so recycling of raw materials reduces supply risks such as price volatility, availability issues and dependence on imports. Undoubtedly, the use of AI and GIS systems contributes to the rational planning, design and construction of waste facilities.
This treatment of the topic of the closed-loop economy will certainly broaden the existing literature and show to a greater extent the opportunities and barriers for its implementation towards sustainable waste systems.
Dr. Anna Gronba-Chyła
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- barriers to a circular economy
- opportunities of a circular economy
- sustainability
- waste management
- problematic waste
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