Smart Technologies Toward Sustainable Eco-Friendly Industry
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 13 January 2026 | Viewed by 727
Special Issue Editors
Interests: sustainable design; eco-design; product innovation; TRIZ; FMEA
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Smart technologies boost efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and support sustainability. However, challenges like high costs, energy consumption, data availability, and labelling issues hinder their implementation in eco-friendly industries.
The literature offers several applications, including machine learning, patent analysis, systematic innovation methods, life cycle assessment, generative artificial intelligence, and designs for additive manufacturing to address challenges and provide robust support for sustainable, eco-friendly industries. One of the significant limitations of these approaches is the integration and real-time applicability of smart technologies in sustainable manufacturing.
This Special Issue aims to collect theoretical and practical articles that establish connections between various eco-friendly support tools, creating a more integrated and structured approach to support sustainable and eco-friendly solutions. Thus, this collection invites research contributions focusing on, but not limited to, the following areas:
- AI and machine learning applications for improving sustainability in manufacturing.
- Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to support sustainable and eco-friendly manufacturing.
- Life cycle assessment (LCA) and prospective LCA to assess the impacts of new and emerging technologies.
- The use of artificial intelligence and sources of technical knowledge sources, such as patents, to support sustainable innovative design through technological forecasting.
Dr. Christian Spreafico
Dr. Baris Ördek
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 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 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
- machine learning
- FMEA
- LCA
- prospective LCA
- patent analysis
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
