Environmental Sustainability and Applications
A section of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).
Section Information
Over the last decades, the use of primary resources has been increased due to the growing global population, the improvement of economies and a new life-style which is changing the habits of populations from high income and developing countries. However, some goods, such as fossil fuels, free lands, metals and mineral reserves are mostly limited, while renewable resources such as water and recyclable materials are commonly mismanaged. As a result, the sustainable use of resources is becoming mandatory for the development of current economies in a viable way, in order to maintain a clean environment for long time.
Since the second half of the 20th century, research and studies have focused their interest on environmental concerns such as air pollution, water and soil contamination, excessive mine extraction, deforestation, waste mismanagement and unplanned land use, among others. This attention is due to the increasing frequency of events which affect the lives of people worldwide and which are introduced mostly by anthropic activity. Hence, changing the form of industrialization, resource management and project development has been suggested by many authors, providing many solutions that can be viewed as a real opportunity. For example, the main solution suggested is the inclusion of the so-called “Circular Economy” in current and future management plans. This theory has been developed in order to encourage change in the general behavior of public policies which adopted the concept of the linear economy (i.e., buy–use–waste), introducing a few management steps to change the end-of-life stage of resources, with the aim of recovering and reusing something that is not necessary at the current moment. Thus, the reuse of recyclable materials, the inclusion of renewable energies, the treatment of wastewater for its reuse, the construction of new facilities adopting green policies (reducing the energy consumption and improving efficiencies), and the reuse of low-value materials, are all solutions that were recommended for the enhancement of new economies in a sustainable manner and by viable means. On one hand, many efforts were introduced at international and local level for the adoption of these proposals into new management policies. On the other, more studies are required, in order to boost the development of sustainable technologies and projects.
This section focuses on original research and reviews regarding the sustainable development and re-use of natural resources according to the principle of the Circular Economy. In this framework, studies concerning the sustainable use of water resources, biomass valorization, recycling of waste, energy recovery, renewable energy provision and the sustainable exploitation of natural resources are welcome as well as other related arguments, in the form of both specialized and interdisciplinary manuscripts.
Prof. Dr. Vincenzo Torretta
Section Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board
Topical Advisory Panel
Special Issues
Following special issues within this section are currently open for submissions:
- Acquiring Green Growth and Environmental Sustainability through Green Energy Production & Consumption, Eco-Innovation, and Sustainable Natural Resource Extraction & Consumption (Deadline: 10 December 2023)
- ESG Disclosure, Pro-environmental Behavior and Sustainability (Deadline: 11 December 2023)
- Urban-Rural Integration in the Context of Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection (Deadline: 15 December 2023)
- Groundwater, Soil and Sustainability (Deadline: 15 December 2023)
- Sustainability in the Seafood Chain and Impacts on Product Quality (Deadline: 20 December 2023)
- Green Infrastructures: Theoretical Aspects, Experimental Tests and Numerical Analyses (Deadline: 20 December 2023)
- Nature-Based Technologies for Wastewater Treatment: Removal of Emerging Organic Contaminants and Potentially Toxic Metals (Deadline: 20 December 2023)
- Toxic Metal Remediation: Recent Advances in the Development of a Green and Sustainable Environment (Deadline: 30 December 2023)
- Application of AI in Environmental Engineering (Deadline: 30 December 2023)
- Advanced Oxidation-Based Techniques for Heterogeneous Treatment of Sediment and Sludge (Deadline: 30 December 2023)
- Advanced Application of Geoinformatics and Artificial Intelligence on Disaster Risk Management (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- Wetland Ecosystem Services Evaluation and Conservation (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- Sustainable Forest Management and Environmental Sustainability: Challenges and Management Implications (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- Recent Advances in Geospatial Data Analytics for Environmental Studies (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- Environmental Governance and Environmental Sustainability (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- Geological CO2 Storage (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- The Role of Landscape Perspective for Environmental Management (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- Land Use Change, Air Quality and Environmental Pollution Government (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- Impact of Ecological Network Structure on Ecosystem Dynamics and Function (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- Emerging Pollutants in Environment: Risk Assessment, Monitoring and Governance (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- Sustainable Water-Saving Irrigation (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- Life Cycle Assessment as an Environmental Sustainability Tool (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Management of Water Resources (Deadline: 31 December 2023)
- Green Technology and Related Macro-Policy Regulation for Soil Remediation, Water Treatment, and CO2 Abatement (Deadline: 1 January 2024)
- Anthropogenic Effects on Hydrological Drought and Its Impact on Society in Drylands (Deadline: 25 January 2024)
- Urban Overheating in a Context of Climate Change: Measurements, Modeling, Thermal Comfort and Adaptation Strategies (Deadline: 30 January 2024)
- Microplastic Pollution and Impact (Deadline: 31 January 2024)
- Advanced Bioengineering Technology and Biomaterials in Application for Sustainable Water Management (Deadline: 31 January 2024)
- Recent Advances in Biomass Conversion, Renewable Energy, and Biomaterials (Deadline: 31 January 2024)
- Sustainability and Indoor Environmental Quality (Deadline: 31 January 2024)
- Flood Risk Assessment and Resilience for Sustainability (Deadline: 31 January 2024)
- Solid Waste Management and Environmental Protection (Deadline: 31 January 2024)
- Nutrient and Carbon Export under Global Warming and Land Use Change (Deadline: 15 February 2024)
- Regulatory Innovations for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture and Food (Deadline: 15 February 2024)
- Environmental, Economic and Health Challenges of Managing Wastes (Deadline: 15 February 2024)
- Efficient Use and Recovery of Resources for the Purpose of Circular Economy and Sustainability (Deadline: 24 February 2024)
- Climate Change and Enviromental Disaster (Deadline: 29 February 2024)
- Carbon Economics: Pathways towards Carbon Neutrality (Deadline: 29 February 2024)
- Remote Sensing and Image Processing in Environmental Field (Deadline: 29 February 2024)
- Designing Scenarios as Interpretive Measurement of Human–Environment-Social Sustainable Interaction (Deadline: 29 February 2024)
- Sustainable Development of High-Altitude Environments (Deadline: 4 March 2024)
- Geochemistry of Sustainable Resources from Partial Melting in the Lithosphere to Mineralisation in the Upper Crust (Deadline: 6 March 2024)
- Sustainability in Water Treatment (Deadline: 15 March 2024)
- Sustainable Growth and a Resilient Environment: Theory, Application and Practice (Deadline: 24 March 2024)
- Sustainability and Optimization in Production and Service Systems (Deadline: 24 March 2024)
- Impact of Heavy Metals on the Sustainable Environment (Deadline: 30 March 2024)
- Advances in Synthesis, Characterization and Environmental Assessment of Eco-Friendly Polymers for Sustainable Applications (Deadline: 31 March 2024)
- Effects of CO2 Emissions Control on Transportation and Its Energy Use (Deadline: 31 March 2024)
- New Insight into the Relationship between Economic Expansion and Carbon Dioxide Emission (Deadline: 31 March 2024)
- Monitoring of Environmental Matrices: New Scenarios and Future Perspectives (Deadline: 31 March 2024)
- Natural Quality, Environmental Resources and Global Value Chain (Deadline: 31 March 2024)
- Sustainable Management of Energy in Mining Industry (Deadline: 31 March 2024)
- Sustainable Water Resources Management under Growing Anthropic Demands and the Effects of Climate Change (Deadline: 31 March 2024)
- The Economic and Environmental Pillars of Sustainable Development in the European Union (Deadline: 31 March 2024)
- Recent Advances in Climate Change and Water Resources (Deadline: 3 April 2024)
- Oriented Biotransformation and Recycling of Organic Waste Cascade Utilization (Deadline: 7 April 2024)
- Advanced Research on Bioenergy and Biofuel Production from Anaerobic Digestion Processes (Deadline: 9 April 2024)
- Innovation and Sustainable Development of Remote Sensing Technology (Deadline: 15 April 2024)
- Food Waste Valorization and Anaerobic Digestion (Deadline: 19 April 2024)
- Current Advances in Green Governance and CO2 Emissions towards Sustainable Development (Deadline: 30 April 2024)
- Sustainable Bioeconomy and Biotechnology in Waste Management (Deadline: 30 April 2024)
- Emerging Research in Sustainable Environmental Management: From the View of Human Ecology (Deadline: 30 April 2024)
- Concrete and Waste Management for Sustainable Construction: Challenges and Opportunities (Deadline: 30 April 2024)
- Assessment of the Environmental Risk and Challenges of Micro(nano)plastics (Deadline: 30 April 2024)
- Advanced Studies in Recycling and Waste Management (Deadline: 30 April 2024)
- Digital Solutions for Promoting a Circular Economy and Sustainability (Deadline: 4 May 2024)
- Wetlands: Conservation, Management, Restoration and Policy 2nd Edition (Deadline: 31 May 2024)
- Environmentally Sustainable and Water Engineering: Arid and Semiarid Hydrology and Sediment Transport (Deadline: 31 May 2024)
- Bioeconomy, Circular Economy and Sustainability 2nd Edition (Deadline: 5 June 2024)
- Development and Application of Environmental Materials (Deadline: 9 June 2024)
- Latest Advances and Prospects in Sustainable Waste Management (Deadline: 9 June 2024)
- Sustainable Management of Energy and Environment Based on Life Cycle Assessment (Deadline: 24 June 2024)
- Artificial Intelligence Applications for Sustainable Environment (Deadline: 30 June 2024)
- Innovative Approaches toward Healthy and Sustainable Environment: Air, Water, Food, and Waste Treatment (Deadline: 30 June 2024)
- Sustainable Waste Management in the Healthcare Sector (Deadline: 30 June 2024)
- Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology (Deadline: 1 July 2024)
- Challenges and Future Trends in Integrating Adaptation to Climate Change and Green Infrastructure in Planning Practice (Deadline: 12 July 2024)
- Application of Remote Sensing and GIS for Promoting Sustainable Geoenvironment (Deadline: 27 July 2024)
- Sustainable Management of Sewage Sludge Based on Recovery and Reuse Strategy: Ecological and Health Risks (Deadline: 31 July 2024)
- Environmental Policy as a Tool for Sustainable Development (Deadline: 10 August 2024)
- Environmental Economics and Ecological Transformations from a Sustainability Perspective (Deadline: 30 August 2024)
- Towards Sustainability: The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in Addressing Environmental and Social Challenges (Deadline: 31 August 2024)
- Recent Advances in Environmental Geochemistry (Deadline: 5 September 2024)
- Sustainable Remediation of Soil and Water Contaminant: Innovations and Practices (Deadline: 20 September 2024)
- Nature-Based Solutions for Wastewater Treatment and Polluted/Degraded Ecosystem Restoration (Deadline: 30 September 2024)
- Photocatalytic Oxidation, Materials Studies, Photochemistry Analysis in Organic Pollutants under Sustainable Environmental Governance (Deadline: 30 September 2024)
- Advances in Waste Biomass and Environmental Sustainability (Deadline: 31 October 2024)
- Artificial Intelligence Leading the Way to Environmental Solutions (Deadline: 30 November 2024)
- Design for Sustainability in the Minerals Sector (Deadline: 31 December 2024)
- Innovative Approaches, Techniques and Technologies Related to Retrofitting Architectural Heritage for Sustainable and Resilient Cities (Deadline: 31 December 2024)
- Energy Consumption Control and Environmental Pollution Treatment in Sustainability (Deadline: 31 December 2024)
- Sustainable Urban Mobility, Transport Infrastructures and Services (Deadline: 1 July 2025)
Topical Collections
Following topical collections within this section are currently open for submissions:
- Advances in Biomass Waste Valorization
- Aquaculture and Environmental Impacts
- Circular Economy and Sustainable Strategies
- Climate Change, Landscape in Transition and Tools for Sustainable Landscape Planning
- Environmental Assessment, Life Cycle Analysis and Sustainability
- Eutrophication and Sustainable Management of Water
- Feature Papers in Sustainable Use of the Environment and Resources
- Fisheries Economics and Management
- Impact of COVID-19 on the Environment, Energy and Economics
- Organic Waste Management
- Reviews, Advances and Applications in Environmental Sustainability
- Risk Assessment and Management
- Sustainable Consumption and Production
- Sustainable Integrated Clean Environment for Human & Nature
- Trends in Municipal Solid Waste Management