Special Issue "Sustainable Environmental Management of Hazardous Wastes"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ana M. Andrés
E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Process and Resource Engineering, University of Cantabria, 39005 Santander, Spain
Interests: environmental assessment of industrial processes; industrial hazardous waste valorisation; environmental assessment of mobility of pollutants using leaching and ecotoxicological tests; environmental decision support tools
Dr. Eva Cifrián
E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Process and Resource Engineering, University of Cantabria, 39005 Santander, Spain
Interests: environmental analysis of processes related to circular economy characterization, environmental evaluation and sustainable management of industrial waste, through leaching test and eco-toxicological studies; design of recovery processes for different types of waste; application of decision-making tools, such as LCA, MCA, CF, to select the best alternatives from the environmental point of view for waste recovery processes; development of monitoring indicators for the waste area

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The recovery of the world’s society from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may be an incentive to advance sustainable development strategies that respond to the challenges of climate change and environmental degradation. One of the most important tasks to achieve them is the mobilization of industry to promote a clean and circular economy, as proposed in the European Strategy of the Green Deal 2019.

Hazardous waste (HW) means waste which exhibits one or more of the hazardous properties (explosive, flammable, irritant, harmful, toxic, carcinogenic, corrosive, infectious, ecotoxic, etc.) listed in different regulations around the world. Hazardous waste is of high concern due to the potential risk it poses to humans and the environment if its management is not properly carried out. The main sectors that generate the largest volumes of hazardous waste are as follows: first, the waste sector (during collection, treatment, and disposal of waste); second, the construction sector; third, the mining and quarrying sector; fourth, the household sector is an important source, whereby waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is one of the fastest growing waste streams; and, finally, chemical and medical wastes.

Sustainable hazardous waste management, considered from collection to final treatment, including recycling and recovery, aims to limit the dispersion of pollutants and substances of concern into the environment and material cycles. In this sense, the environmentally sustainable management of hazardous waste should be approached from the perspective of waste prevention to reduce the content of hazardous substances in materials and products and, therefore, the amount of hazardous waste generated in working toward a model of circular economy. The role of HW management in the transition from a traditional linear model to a circular model, which replaces the “end-of-life” concept by reducing, reusing, recycling, and recovering materials in the entire cycle, implies opportunities. On the other hand, the presence of hazardous substances in waste streams generates a key environmental question—are there adequate tools to assess the risk that may arise from the reuse and recycling of materials?

This Special Issue “Sustainable Environmental Management of Hazardous Wastes” will include, but is not limited to, the following topics:

  • Processes for removal or transformation of toxic pollutants of HW.
  • Cleaner processes or technologies that minimize the environmental impact of HW.
  • Waste, energy, and resource (WER) management in the HW sector.
  • HW management efficiency in relation to sustainable environmental criteria.
  • Innovation processes, methods, and tools to guarantee clean material cycles of substances of concern.
  • Sustainable management of hazardous industrial waste through closed loop systems/reuse of waste.

Dr. Ana M. Andrés
Dr. Eva Cifrián
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 papers will be 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 1900 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

  • hazardous waste
  • industrial waste
  • sustainable management
  • circular economy
  • recycling
  • materials recovery
  • cleaner processes
  • resources
  • life cycle assessment
  • environmental impact
  • risk assessment
  • ecotoxicity
  • heavy metals
  • persistent organic pollutants

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Sustainable Material Management of Industrial Hazardous Waste in Taiwan: Case Studies in Circular Economy
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9410; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169410 - 22 Aug 2021
Viewed by 321
Abstract
In recent years, the rapid economic development in Taiwan has resulted in greater complexity in handling industrial hazardous waste. The main aim of this paper was to present a trend analysis of the online reported amounts of industrial hazardous waste from the official [...] Read more.
In recent years, the rapid economic development in Taiwan has resulted in greater complexity in handling industrial hazardous waste. The main aim of this paper was to present a trend analysis of the online reported amounts of industrial hazardous waste from the official database over the past decade (2010–2020). In addition, this study focused on the environmental policies and regulatory measures for the mandatory material resources from industrial hazardous waste according to the promulgation of the revised Waste Management Act. It was found that the annual reported amounts of industrial hazardous waste ranged from 1200 thousand metric tons to 1600 thousand metric tons, reflecting a balanced relationship between the industrial production and waste management. Based on the principles of resource recycling and circular economy, some case studies for specific types of industrial hazardous waste (including spent acid etchant, spent pickling liquid, and spent dimethyl formamide-contained liquid) were compiled to echo the government efforts in sustainable material management. In Taiwan, recycling amounts in 2020 were recorded up to 92,800, 130,460, and 54,266 metric tons, respectively. It was suggested to be a successful circular economy model in the printed circuit boards, steel/iron processing, and synthetic leather industries. In order to effectively reduce the environmental loadings and conserve material resources from industrial hazardous waste, some recommendations were also addressed to provide for the policy makers, environmental engineers and process manager. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Environmental Management of Hazardous Wastes)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Evolution of hazardous waste management techniques and their impact on environmental management policies in different country settings: A systematic review of the literature
Authors: Wilfred Njabulo Nunu
Affiliation: 1. Department of Environmental Science and Health, Faculty of Applied Sciences, National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. 2. Scientific Agriculture and Environment Development Institute, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Abstract: Hazardous waste management techniques and strategies have evolved over years in different countries over the years with the new focus being on sustainable development. However, different countries have implemented various strategies as policies are informed by the technological, economic, and other factors in the dynamic environment that we live in. Different developments have informed different approaches to environmental management to varying extents in different countries. Therefore, this study explores how the evolution of hazardous waste management techniques has impacted environmental management policies in different countries, as reported in the literature. A systematic review of articles found in peer-reviewed journals obtained through search engines such as Google scholar, PUBMED, EBSCO, and many more would be collected and reviewed and those meeting the criteria (in line with the review's aim) reviewed, and findings presented. Comparisons would be made between different country contexts and findings documented to aid decision-making on the direction in which these policies should take going forward for effective management of Hazardous Waste.

Title: Sustainable Material Management of Industrial Hazardous Waste in Taiwan: Case Studies in Circular Economy
Authors: Wen-Tien Tsai
Affiliation: Graduate Institute of Bioresources, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 912, Taiwan
Abstract: In recent years, the rapid economic development in Taiwan has resulted in greater complexity in handling industrial hazardous waste. The main aim of this paper was to present a trend analysis of the on-line reported amounts of industrial hazardous waste from the official database over the past decade (2010-2019). In addition, this study focused on the environmental policies and regulatory measures for the mandatory material resources from industrial hazardous waste according to the promulgation of the revised Waste Management Act. It was found that the annual reported amounts of industrial hazardous waste ranged from 1,200 thousand metric tons to 1,460 thousand metric tons, reflecting a balanced relationship between the industrial production and waste management. Based on the principles of resource recycling and circular economy, some case studies for the types of industrial hazardous waste (including waste acid etchant, waste pickling liquid, waste photoresist stripping liquid, and waste containing mercury of over 260 mg/kg-dry basis) were compiled to echo the government efforts in the economic growth and environmental protection. In order to effectively reduce the environmental loadings and conserve natural resources from industrial waste, some recommendations were also addressed to provide for the policy-makers.

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