Special Issue "The Circular Economy Challenge: Towards a Sustainable Development"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Alessia Amato
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Life and Environmental Sciences (DiSVA), Università Politecnica of Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Interests: hydrometallurgy; biotechnology; critical raw materials; life cycle assessment; circular economy; sustainability.

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The modern economy has been based on a linear design, where the keywords are “take”, “make”, “use”, and “dispose”. This approach has led to constant economic growth that neglects the real limits of our planet. The negative effects have been evident with consequences for both the environmental end the social spheres. Over the last decade, growing attention has been paid to the new model of a circular economy, in response to the global situation. The circular economy is not only a simple business model, but rather the integration of many strategies for the protection of the natural ecosystem and the maintenance of economic stability worldwide. A holistic approach is vital for the success of this new economy, where technological advancement must be combined with the assessment of the possible repercussion on the sustainability spheres (environmental, social, and economic). Many tools can support economy transactions, such as the life cycle assessment, able to push the strategic choices towards the impact reduction, in the most disparate fields.

This Special Issue will collect current knowledge and innovative methods developed in agreement with the main principles of the circular economy. New proposals should provide methods that act on the eco-design of processes/products and to exploit waste flows. Studies should supply unconventional models to evaluate systems from a holistic point of view. The further possibility of the achievement of indexes to describe the circularity level of a system could be essential for the implementation of sustainable policies.

Dr. Alessia Amato
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 papers will be 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 1900 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

  • Circular economy
  • Environmental sustainability
  • Social sustainability
  • Economic sustainability
  • Holistic approach
  • Life cycle assessment

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

Article
From Waste Pickers to Producers: An Inclusive Circular Economy Solution through Development of Cooperatives in Waste Management
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8925; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168925 - 10 Aug 2021
Viewed by 435
Abstract
The world’s global plastics waste crisis demands policy coordination and technological solutions to improve waste management systems, and organizations worldwide have created momentum around the concept of a circular economy. This paper advances a holistic, inclusive circular economy framework that aims to empower [...] Read more.
The world’s global plastics waste crisis demands policy coordination and technological solutions to improve waste management systems, and organizations worldwide have created momentum around the concept of a circular economy. This paper advances a holistic, inclusive circular economy framework that aims to empower waste pickers with the following basic pillars: (1) build collaborative networks of stakeholders to enable inclusion of waste pickers; (2) establish cooperative enterprise models to integrate waste pickers into the formal economy; (3) build waste pickers’ technical skills and capacity for entrepreneurship; and (4) provide access to technologies and markets that enable waste pickers to manufacture upcycled products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Circular Economy Challenge: Towards a Sustainable Development)
Article
Untapped Aspects of Innovation and Competition within a European Resilient Circular Economy. A Dual Comparative Study
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8290; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158290 - 24 Jul 2021
Viewed by 565
Abstract
The paper aims to develop—based on a particular dual comparative analysis that follows the current European concerns—the concepts of competitiveness and innovation as pillars uprighting companies’ resilience, creating ecoinnovative jobs and social inclusion. In their struggle to meet the Circular Economy principles and [...] Read more.
The paper aims to develop—based on a particular dual comparative analysis that follows the current European concerns—the concepts of competitiveness and innovation as pillars uprighting companies’ resilience, creating ecoinnovative jobs and social inclusion. In their struggle to meet the Circular Economy principles and Green Deal objectives, the countries chosen for analyses—Romania and Serbia—have started implementing added-value blockchain concepts in their societies to thrive in the resilient European market and build empowered societies. According to the World Economic Forum Global Sources of Competitiveness, skills considered in our study refer to businesses’ versatility and societies’ innovation capability. Based on specific data provided by Eurostat, the results showed a correlation between the ecoinnovation index and R&D personnel by sector and helped design a regression model. Hence, we demonstrate that R&D creativity, once stimulated through innovative teaching, blooms, having positive effects at society and market levels as reflected in the ecoinnovation index. Furthermore, cluster analysis within E.U. innovation helped identify strengths and weaknesses, provided new grounds in applying innovation, and led to further recommendations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Circular Economy Challenge: Towards a Sustainable Development)
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Article
Environmental Sustainability Analysis of Case Studies of Agriculture Residue Exploitation
Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3990; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073990 - 02 Apr 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 549
Abstract
The agriculture sector produces significant amounts of organic residues and the choice of the management strategy of these flows affects the environmental sustainability of the sector. The scientific literature is rich with innovative processes for the production of bio-based products (BBP) from agriculture [...] Read more.
The agriculture sector produces significant amounts of organic residues and the choice of the management strategy of these flows affects the environmental sustainability of the sector. The scientific literature is rich with innovative processes for the production of bio-based products (BBP) from agriculture residues, aimed at the implementation of circular economy principles. Based on literature data, the present paper performed a life cycle assessment and assessed the environmental sustainability of five processes for the exploitation of rice and wheat straw, tomato pomace, and orange peel. The analysis identified as significant issues the high energy demand and the use of high impact organic solvent. The comparison of BBP with conventional products showed higher environmental loads for the innovative processes that used organic residues (except for rice straw case). The obtained results do not want to discourage the circular strategy in the agriculture sector, but rather to draw the attention of all stakeholders to the environmental sustainability aspects, focusing on the necessity to decrease the electricity demand and identify ecological agents to use in BBP manufacturing, in agreement with the most recent European policies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Circular Economy Challenge: Towards a Sustainable Development)
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Article
Life Cycle Assessment of Electrodialytic Technologies to Recover Raw Materials from Mine Tailings
Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3915; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073915 - 01 Apr 2021
Viewed by 477
Abstract
Currently, the development of new sustainable technologies to recover raw materials from secondary resources has shown a lack of available data on the processes and supplies involved, as well as their environmental impacts. The present research has conducted a life cycle assessment of [...] Read more.
Currently, the development of new sustainable technologies to recover raw materials from secondary resources has shown a lack of available data on the processes and supplies involved, as well as their environmental impacts. The present research has conducted a life cycle assessment of electrodialytic (ED) technologies to improve critical raw materials recovery in the Portuguese mining industry. To critically appraise the activities from the mining sector and gather data on technical and environmental issues, three waste management scenarios were considered: (1) ED treatment with a deep eutectic solvent as an adjuvant; (2) ED treatment with simultaneous H2 recovery; and (3) ED treatment with sodium chloride as an enhancement. The data presented were based on global databases, technical reports from official sources, and peer-reviewed published experimental outcomes. The estimated results indicated that one of the constraints in applying ED technologies is energy consumption and thus the impacts are highly dependent on energy source choices. On the other hand, as a consequence of the H2 inherently produced by ED technologies, there is a direct potential for energy recovery. Therefore, considering an upscale approach of the ED reactor based on bench scale experimental results, the H2 could be reused in the ED facility or stored. Additionally, according to experimental data, 22% of the tungsten from the fine mine tailings could be recovered. Finally, the possibility to remove 63% of arsenic from mine tailings could decrease contamination risks while creating additional marketable co-products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Circular Economy Challenge: Towards a Sustainable Development)
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Article
Biotechnology for Metal Recovery from End-of-Life Printed Circuit Boards with Aspergillus niger
Sustainability 2020, 12(16), 6482; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166482 - 11 Aug 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 698
Abstract
The growing production and use of electric and electronic components has led to higher rates of metal consumption and waste generation. To solve this double criticality, the old linear management method (in which a product becomes waste to dispose), has evolved towards a [...] Read more.
The growing production and use of electric and electronic components has led to higher rates of metal consumption and waste generation. To solve this double criticality, the old linear management method (in which a product becomes waste to dispose), has evolved towards a circular approach. Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are the brains of many electronic devices. At the end of their life, this equipment represents a valuable scrap for the content of base metals such as Cu and Zn (25 and 2 wt %, respectively) and precious metals such as Au, Ag, and Pd (250, 1000, and 110 ppm, respectively). Recently, biotechnological approaches have gained increasing prominence in PCB exploitation since they can be more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly than the chemical techniques. In this context, the present paper describes a sustainable process which uses the fungal strain Aspergillus niger for Cu and Zn extraction from PCBs. The best conditions identified were PCB addition after 14 days, Fe3+ as oxidant agent, and a pulp density of 2.5% (w/v). Extraction efficiencies of 60% and 40% for Cu and Zn, respectively, were achieved after 21 days of fermentation. The ecodesign of the process was further enhanced by using milk whey as substrate for the fungal growth and the consequent citric acid production, which was selected as a bioleaching agent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Circular Economy Challenge: Towards a Sustainable Development)
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