Additive Manufacturing for Circular Economy: Sustainable Materials and Energy-Efficient Processes

Dear Colleagues,

Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies emerge as an efficient advanced net-zero waste solution for the development of sustainable, environmentally friendly production systems. In turn, this aids in the transition towards a circular economy, in alignment with the global Sustainable Development Goals on clean manufacturing processes, sustainable material utilization, energy-efficient production routes, and extended product life cycles.

Therefore, in this Special Issue, we seek contributions that will aid in the elevation of scientific knowledge and provide significant advancements regarding the practical implementation of AM into industrial systems to enhance circularity. Topics of interest include the development of sustainable and recycled feedstock materials; process optimization for reduced energy consumption and minimization of waste production; design for circularity strategies; assessments of environmental and financial impact through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analyses; and appropriate techno-economic studies.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to bridge material science, digital manufacturing processes, and sustainability science for long-term viable clean production systems. The collection of works will fill existing literature gaps and provide novel perspectives on the ability of AM to simultaneously reduce waste production, lower carbon emissions, minimize raw feedstock demands, and enhance system-wide metrics on sustainability. We warmly welcome contributions featuring novel methods of reacquiring recyclable feedstocks, AM-enabled circular practices, LCA analyses, and scalable projected production systems, either as computational investigations or as real-life pilot systems.

In this Special Issue, we hope to showcase original research articles, reviews, and perspectives aligned with the following topics:

• Bio-based, recycled, and upcycled polymers, metals, and composites;
• Recyclability and reusability of AM feedstocks;
• Low-impact material synthesis and processing routes;
• Process optimization for reduced energy consumption;
• Comparative energy analysis of AM vs. conventional manufacturing;
• Life-cycle assessment (LCA) of AM technologies and products;
• Industrial case studies demonstrating circular value chains;
• AI- or ML-driven AM for energy and material optimization;
• Digital Twins for sustainability assessment.

Manuscripts outside these themes but strongly connected to AM and circularity will also be considered. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Nikolaos Kladovasilakis
Dr. Konstantinos Tsongas
Dr. Eleftheria Maria Pechlivani
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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