The Role of Wastewater Treatment in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Water Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 583
Special Issue Editors
Interests: emerging micropollutants; green technologies; industrial wastewater; water monitoring; wastewater monitoring
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: emerging micropollutants; advanced oxidation processes; nanomaterials; industrial wastewater
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In every sphere of human society, the increase in non-sustainable urbanization and industrialization processes has placed enormous pressure on various environmental media. Regarding the unregulated emission of untreated effluent and multiple types of harmful chemical micropollutants, as an outcome, the aforementioned activities have a detrimental effect on the treatment and destruction of natural water resources.
Adequate wastewater management and treatment is closely linked to up to 11 of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), according to scientific information. The role of wastewater treatment in achieving SDGs can be viewed in several directions: Achieving sustainable management and implementing wastewater treatment techniques not only improves human health by preventing exposure to dangerous diseases (SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being), but also greatly contributes to the availability of clean water supplies (SDG 2 and 6). From an economic standpoint, implementing sustainable and green wastewater treatment can be viewed as an opportunity to generate money (SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth). From an environmental perspective, the water–energy nexus can be accomplished by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change adaptation by turning leftover waste from wastewater treatment plants into electricity (SDG 7 and 9).
We welcome the scientific community and other relevant contributors (stakeholders, water sectors, policy makers etc.) to assist in this purpose by submitting their research to this Special Issue on specific topics, including the following:
- Water quality;
- Circular economy;
- Green wastewater stream treatment;
- Climate change adaptation;
- Wastewater management;
- Waste management;
- Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs);
- Waste to energy;
- Ecological footprint;
- Measuring, monitoring and evaluating the SDGs;
- Methods for monitoring SDG performance;
- SDG indicators;
- Water–energy nexus.
To assess progress toward attaining the SDGs, this Special Issue will serve as a valuable knowledge base and compilation of the most recent studies in the context to wastewater treatment of aquatic media.
Dr. Ivana Mihajlović
Dr. Mladenka Novaković
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- clean water
- sustainable water management
- water ecosystems
- clean energy technology
- untreated wastewater
- water quality
- resource use efficiency
- climate resilience
- waste management
- recycled water
- SDG monitoring
- SDG indicators
- ecological footprint
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