Transforming Materials Industries for a Sustainable Future

Dear Colleagues,

Foundation material industries, namely, cement, ceramics, chemicals, glass, metals, and paper, are at the root of most supply chains providing fundamental products to the industrial sector. They are generally water-, resource- and energy-intensive, and usually require high-temperature processing. They produce voluminous and often pernicious waste streams and heat. Profit margins are generally low, making them vulnerable to competition and lowering innovative capacity to transform.

Decades of innovations have allowed foundation material industries to manufacture materials at a higher volumes and reduced costs.  However, the need for long-term sustainability has become the most important challenge, not just for the present, but for the decades to come. Foundation material industries must transform to preserve and generate social, environmental and economic value throughout the consecutive lifecycles of materials within economies.

With this Special Issue, it is our ambition to stimulate and circulate the latest knowledge on the topic of “Transforming the Materials Industries for a Sustainable Future”. This Special Issue will focus on the emerging concepts of circular economy and industrial symbiosis in foundation material industries, and concerns all aspects related to reducing resource use, energy efficiency, waste minimisation and valorisation, designing longer lasting products and reprocessing materials. It also deals with research on the development of novel materials and processes that enable more sustainable lower-energy and lower-carbon processes, supported by innovation in collaboration and business models, the supply chain and governance.

Researchers are invited to share their original research, case studies, and comprehensive review papers contributing to this Special Issue, entitled “Transforming the Materials Industries for a Sustainable Future”.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Materials.

Prof. Dr. Mark Jolly
Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Salonitis
Dr. Anne Velenturf
Dr. Sanjooram Paddea
Guest Editors

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 submissions that pass pre-check are 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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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 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.