Waste Management and Environmental Protection

Dear Colleagues,

• Introduction:

The challenge of waste generation affects all sectors of society and the economy. Urbanization, changing consumption patterns, and expanding industrial activity create diverse waste streams, including municipal solid waste, industrial residues, agricultural by products, wastewater sludge, end-of-life products such as batteries and electronic equipment, spent catalysts, mine tailings, construction and demolition waste, and mixed plastic and glass wastes. Proper management of these streams is essential to protect the environment, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve natural resources, and secure supplies of critical raw materials. Research that advances technologies, policies, and practices for prevention, recovery and safe disposal is therefore of strategic scientific and societal importance.

• Aim of the Special Issue:

This Special Issue aims to gather high-quality contributions that address waste management and environmental protection from multidisciplinary perspectives. Emphasis is placed on approaches that combine rigorous science with practical applicability and policy relevance. Contributions may report novel experimental results, process development and scale up, field case studies, methodological advances, life cycle and economic assessment, policy analysis, and comprehensive reviews. The topic aligns with the journal scope by addressing both environmental protection and sustainable resource management and promoting solutions that support the circular economy.

• Suggested themes:

We welcome original research articles and reviews in, but not limited to, the following areas: waste prevention reduction and reuse strategies; material recovery and recycling from municipal and industrial waste, including WEEE batteries and plastics; recovery of metals and critical raw materials from secondary resources such as spent catalysts and mine tailings; hydrometallurgical, electrochemical, pyrometallurgical, biological, and mechanochemical approaches for resource recovery; advanced sorting separation and pre-treatment technologies and sensors; treatment and valorization of wastewater sludge and organic residues, including biogas and composting; process intensification scale up and pilot plant studies; life cycle assessment, environmental impact assessment, and techno-economic analysis; policy, regulatory, and social aspects of waste management and circular economy implementation; and case studies and field data that demonstrate the applicability and transferability of methods.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. We look forward to hearing from you.

Dr. Soroush Rahmati
Dr. Stephen Quilley
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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