Sustainable Environmental Management of Hazardous Wastes

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

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