From Pollution to Solution: Explore Sustainable Solutions to Combat Marine Debris and Plastic Pollution
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Oceans".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 21 January 2027 | Viewed by 3230
Editor
Interests: gasification; waste; biomass; biomass conversion; renewable energy technologies; energy conversion; Solid Waste Management; Biofuel Production; waste heat recovery; power production; machine learning; recycled concrete aggregate
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The lack of effective, scalable, and economically viable solutions for the treatment of marine litter represents one of the major challenges currently faced by the scientific, technical, and policy communities. Marine debris, and plastic pollution in particular, is a complex and heterogeneous issue, deeply embedded in global production systems, consumption patterns, and waste management infrastructures. While monitoring, mapping, and classification of marine litter remain essential for understanding its magnitude and dynamics, they are no longer sufficient as standalone responses. Addressing marine pollution requires moving beyond observation toward action.
This Special Issue aims to promote solution-oriented research that explores realistic and implementable strategies to mitigate and combat marine debris. Contributions are welcomed from multiple perspectives, including technological and engineering approaches—such as collection, recycling, valorization, removal, and conversion processes—as well as regulatory frameworks, economic instruments, preventive strategies aimed at reducing the generation and dispersion of marine litter at the source, and adaptation strategies that support ecosystems, industries, and communities in coping with the presence of existing marine debris.
Rather than focusing exclusively on conceptual or idealized solutions, this Special Issue encourages submissions that propose partial, incremental, or context-specific approaches with clear potential for real-world application and measurable environmental and socio-economic benefits. By integrating interdisciplinary research, policy analysis, prevention and adaptation strategies, and applied case studies, this Special Issue seeks to highlight pathways capable of transforming marine litter from an environmental challenge into an opportunity for innovation, sustainability, and systemic change.
Dr. Gian-Claudio Faussone
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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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
- marine litter
- plastic pollution
- chemical recycling
- waste valorization
- marine debris prevention
- adaptation strategies
- marine environmental governance
- circular economy
- sustainable waste management
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