Dear Colleagues,

The continuous discharge of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and inorganic nutrients (e.g., nitrogen) into environmental compartments (i.e., soil, sediment, wastewater), leading to harmful effects on the environment and human health, has motivated researchers to investigate eco-friendly and effective approaches for soil/sediment remediation and wastewater treatment.

In the last decade, various techniques have been proposed as alternatives to conventional treatments (e.g., disposal), which cannot be adequate for treating polluted matrices. In general, these techniques can be divided into three main categories, i.e., biological, physical–chemical, and thermal methods. Contrary to thermal processes, which can be costly by consuming a high amount of energy, biological and physical–chemical treatments involving bacteria/plants and renewable adsorbents/biodegradable chemicals, respectively, have proven to be cost-saving and sustainable alternatives.

This Special Issue is accordingly aimed at papers examining soil/sediment remediation and wastewater treatment techniques for the removal of POPs and/or inorganic nutrients. The purpose is to establish novel approaches as well as highlight scientific findings of the latest studies to support future research on this topic.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Sustainable techniques (e.g., physical–chemical, biological) for treating POP and/or inorganic nutrient-containing soils, sediments, or wastewaters.
• The identification and/or use of novel bacteria/plants/microalgae for biological treatments (e.g., bioremediation, bioaugmentation, aerobic oxidation, anaerobic digestion, phytoremediation, nitrification).
• The manufacturing and/or employment of renewable adsorbents (e.g., biochar) for POP/inorganic nutrient adsorption.
• The use of biodegradable and/or cost-saving chemicals for improving biological and physical–chemical approaches (e.g., biosurfactants, chelating agents).
• Lab-, pilot- or full-scale experiences for soil/sediment remediation and wastewater treatment.
• Integrated approaches (e.g., soil washing and bioremediation).
• Economic assessment for remediation strategies.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Francesco Bianco
Dr. Grazia Policastro
Dr. Marco Race
Prof. Dr. Andrea Petrella
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. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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.

• POPs
• inorganic nutrients
• soil
• sediment
• wastewater
• biological treatment
• physical–chemical process