Innovative Technology for Waste Recycling: Carbon Footprint Analysis and Resource Efficiency
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Waste and Recycling".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2027 | Viewed by 88
Special Issue Editors
Interests: research determining the influence of selected factors on the evaporation rate of metals from alloys; development of process assumptions enabling the use of waste carbon-containing materials and biomass in selected recycling technologies, forming the basis for industry transformation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue will focus on innovative technologies for waste recycling, integrating carbon footprint analysis and resource efficiency evaluation to tackle the escalating global challenges of waste management amid the dual goals of carbon neutrality and circular economy development. With the rapid expansion of industrial production, urbanization, and consumption, the generation of diverse waste streams—including electronic waste, industrial solid waste, construction and demolition debris, and polymer-based consumer waste—has reached unprecedented levels. These wastes not only pose severe environmental risks if mismanaged, but also contain substantial valuable resources, the recovery of which is critical to reducing reliance on primary raw material extraction and mitigating ecological degradation.
The Special Issue solicits cutting-edge research spanning a broad spectrum of waste recycling technologies, including mechanical separation, chemical recycling, pyrolysis, bioconversion, intelligent sorting systems, and low-temperature embrittlement. It will prioritize studies that validate the performance of these innovative approaches in enhancing resource recovery efficiency, minimizing secondary pollution, and adapting to the complex composition of mixed-waste streams. Emphasizing standardized carbon footprint accounting, in line with IPCC guidelines and ISO 14064 standards, this Special Issue encourages systematic analyses of carbon emissions across the entire waste recycling value chain, from collection and pretreatment to material separation, regeneration, and end-of-life disposal, with a focus on proposing data-driven low-carbon optimization strategies.
Furthermore, this Special Issue will center on resource efficiency evaluation, exploring methodologies that can maximize the high-value utilization of recycled materials (e.g., metals, polymers, rare earth elements, and construction aggregates) and quantify the environmental and economic benefits of circular resource flows. The collected contributions will provide a robust theoretical foundation and practical roadmap for the waste recycling industry’s green and low-carbon transformation, accelerate the industrialization of innovative recycling technologies, and contribute significantly to the establishment of a sustainable circular economy system and the achievement of global carbon reduction targets.
Prof. Dr. Jerzy Łabaj
Dr. Małgorzata Hordyńska
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.
Keywords
- waste recycling
- innovative technologies
- carbon footprint analysis
- resource efficiency
- circular economy
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