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Enhanced Waste Management Models to Support Waste Prevention and Circularity

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 3011

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Bologna, 47121 Forlì, Italy
Interests: circular economy; industrial mechanical plants; multiphase flow engineering; renewable energy; plant automation; waste management

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Bologna, 47121 Forlì, Italy
Interests: circular economy; industrial mechanical plants; multiphase flow engineering; maintenance; waste management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Significant efforts to decouple economic growth and waste generation are required. Several technological and non-technological barriers exist according to different industrial sectors and value chains. In particular, in the new European Circular Economy Action Plan, seven key value chains have been identified as the most urgent to effectively shift to more sustainable production and consumption patterns, which are: electronics and ITC; batteries and vehicles; packaging; plastics; textiles; construction and buildings; and food, water and nutrients.

Starting with these value chains, but not exclusively, this Special Issue of Sustainability aims to collect reviews and research on sustainable and circular models and solutions to manage and reduce waste. The main focus is on technological innovations, to both prevent waste generation and recover, recycle and reuse them as new resources and materials, in the same or in other value chains. However, other relevant topics, necessary to develop further technologies and solutions, such as the characterization and quantification of waste, potential barriers and drivers and the definition of end-of-waste criteria, are important to consider the problem with a comprehensive approach. The use of quantitative approaches to measure the environmental, economic and social impacts of proposed solutions are encouraged to effectively monitor the contribution of waste management models and solutions to circularity and sustainability and to compare them to the current waste management patterns.

Prof. Dr. Augusto Bianchini
Dr. Jessica Rossi
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

  • waste management
  • circular economy
  • waste prevention
  • recovery and reuse
  • technological innovation
  • quantitative indicators

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 2979 KiB  
Article
Explorative Multiple-Case Research on the Scrap-Based Steel Slag Value Chain: Opportunities for Circular Economy
by Mohammadtaghi Falsafi and Rosanna Fornasiero
Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 2284; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042284 - 17 Feb 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2564
Abstract
This paper analyses the scrap-based steel slag from the electric arc furnace and secondary metallurgy and proposes a framework for valorising its value chain. Toward this aim, the role of slag features, technological advancements for the treatment of slag, applications, legislation, and their [...] Read more.
This paper analyses the scrap-based steel slag from the electric arc furnace and secondary metallurgy and proposes a framework for valorising its value chain. Toward this aim, the role of slag features, technological advancements for the treatment of slag, applications, legislation, and their value chain in the circular economy and industrial symbiosis opportunities are discussed within the proposed framework. By interviewing a group of Italian steelmakers, accounting for around 30% of Italian scrap-based steel volume, we analyse various value chain key factors, namely, technology, legislation, production volume, and economic aspects. Consequently, we assess the as-is situation of the sector and elaborate on the challenges and expectations for the future in terms of collaboration frameworks. The results show how vertical (by internal treatment) and horizontal integrations (by collaborating with other potential industries) support decisions on material flow and facilitate circularity in sharing this kind of material. The most influential enabler in a vertical integration is the economic aspect, while in the horizontal integration the enablers are the market and technology. We also address the importance of raw-material self-sufficiency through analysing closed-loop supply chains and collaborative supply-chain networks. Full article
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