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Sustainability
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Circular Economy, Environmental Monitoring, and Sustainable Development
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Circular Economy, Environmental Monitoring, and Sustainable Development

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 4263

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Marco Casazza

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, University of Salerno, 84081 Baronissi, Italy
Interests: applied physics; ecophysics; environmental monitoring and accounting; vibro-acoustics; environmental science and cultural heritage applications; environment; health and well-being
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Gengyuan Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
Interests: energy economics; system ecology; urban ecological planning; waste management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite our increased knowledge and actions to support the introduction of innovative solutions for an equitable transition, which is necessary to reach the Sustainable Development Goals, much still needs to be achieved in order to adopt alternative production and consumption models, as well as more sustainable behaviours. Circular economic models are being proposed to promote the reuse and recycling of resources and more efficient energy solutions, and to reduce the production of wasted materials. However, many of the proposed solutions do not sufficiently the integration of all the dimensions of sustainability, including the environmental, ecological, economic, social and cultural pillars of sustainability. On the other side, many of the proposed scenarios are implemented on the basis of accessible databases, whose quality is not always guaranteed. In particular, limited attention is given to the instruments, measure methods and the analysis of field data, on which any futher assessment should rely. Finally, the redesign of products, allowing the reuse and recycling of materials and the reduction of wasted resources (materials and energy) needs to be further stimulated.

Providing an advanced forum for studies related to sustainability, the journal Sustainability, which is an international, cross-disciplinary, scholarly, peer-reviewed and open access journal that publishes research on the environmental, cultural, economic, and social sustainability of human beings, decided to open a call for papers for a Special Issue, entitled, “Circular Economy, Environmental Monitoring, and Sustainable Development ”. The aim is to assess the state-of-the-art, innovative instruments, methods and databases used for environmental monitoring and ecological engineering, assessing the flow of resources, ecosystem services and their nexus, as well as the environmental impacts of different production, consumption and lifestyle patterns, whose impacts can be mitigated through the adoption of circular solutions. Moreover, the Special Issue aims to discuss the integration of monitored data within environmental accounting processes, including the appropriate use of indicators and the application of different accounting methods for the implementation of analyses, assessing the flow of resources, their nexus and the impacts generated through different production and consumption patterns by different economic sectors and households. Based on this knowledge about the environmental impacts, assessed through monitoring actions and further analyses, we can assess their magnitude. The Special Issue also aims to consider the innovative technogies and redesign solutions to reduce material extraction, increase the reuse and recycling of materials, reduce environmental, economic and social impacts, and reduce wasted materials in ecological engineering, while also establishing a more sustainable management of solid waste and wastewaters. Finally, the Special Issue aims to consider innovative, integrated assessment approaches for the analysis of circular economy solutions, encompassing and integrating the environmental, economic, social, cultural and ethical dimensions of sustainability.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews, as well as multidisciplinary perspectives, are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: environmental monitoring and accounting; the designing of circular products and production processes; innovative solutions for a more sustainable waste and wastewater management and a reduction in wasted materials; circular economy production and consumption processes; and integrated environmental, economic, social, cultural and ethical implications of circular economy solutions.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Marco Casazza
Dr. Gengyuan Liu
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. 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 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.

Keywords

  • circular economy
  • environmental monitoring
  • ecological engineering
  • environmental pollution
  • environmental sensors
  • environmental accounting
  • products re-design
  • environmental impact assessment
  • modeling
  • simulation
  • environmental sustainability
  • social sustainability
  • cultural sustainability
  • economic sustainability
  • resource nexus
  • resource reuse and recycling
  • waste management
  • wastewater management
  • wasted material reduction
  • power plants
  • energy efficiency
  • sustainable production and consumption
  • renewable energy
  • indicators
  • data quality, integration and analysis
  • production processes
  • behavioural analysis
  • ethics in production and consumption

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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27 pages, 5960 KiB  
Article
Sustainability Assessment of Coffee Silverskin Waste Management in the Metropolitan City of Naples (Italy): A Life Cycle Perspective
by Giuliana Ansanelli, Gabriella Fiorentino, Rosaria Chifari, Karin Meisterl, Enrica Leccisi and Amalia Zucaro
Sustainability 2023, 15(23), 16281; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316281 - 24 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1140
Abstract
The use of renewable biological resources, including biowaste, within a circular framework, is crucial for the transition to more sustainable production and consumption patterns. By means of life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methodologies, this study compares the environmental and economic performances [...] Read more.
The use of renewable biological resources, including biowaste, within a circular framework, is crucial for the transition to more sustainable production and consumption patterns. By means of life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methodologies, this study compares the environmental and economic performances of two disposal scenarios for coffee silverskin, the major waste from coffee roasting. The business-as-usual (BaU) scenario, currently applied in the Metropolitan City of Naples (Italy), involves silverskin composting, while the proposed alternative scenario explores the valorization of silverskin as a functional ingredient in bakery products. The alternative scenario results are more advantageous since replacing flour with silverskin in bakery products reduces environmental impact by 96% more than replacing synthetic fertilizers with compost in the BaU scenario. Furthermore, in the alternative scenario, coffee roasters halve their silverskin disposal costs, compared to the BaU scenario (447.55 € versus 190.09 €, for 1 ton). Finally, the major environmental burdens are resource use for equipment construction (37% for BaU, 62% for alternative, on average) and electricity consumption (30% for BaU, 67% for alternative, on average), while the highest economic cost is due to personnel (58% for BaU, 88% for alternative, on average). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Circular Economy, Environmental Monitoring, and Sustainable Development)
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18 pages, 3647 KiB  
Article
Integrated Anaerobic–Aerobic Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor and Biochar Adsorption for the Efficient Removal of Organic Matter and Nutrients from Brazilian Landfill Leachate
by Antonio Faggiano, Oriana Motta, Maria Ricciardi, Francesco Cerrato, Carlos Augusto Garcia Junior, Antonino Fiorentino and Antonio Proto
Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 13914; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813914 - 19 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1268
Abstract
Landfill leachate is a complex and highly polluted wastewater that poses significant environmental challenges worldwide. This study proposes an innovative approach to addressing this challenge by developing an integrated anaerobic–aerobic moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) and biochar adsorption method for the efficient removal [...] Read more.
Landfill leachate is a complex and highly polluted wastewater that poses significant environmental challenges worldwide. This study proposes an innovative approach to addressing this challenge by developing an integrated anaerobic–aerobic moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) and biochar adsorption method for the efficient removal of organic matter and nutrients from landfill leachate. The MBBR provides a suitable environment for the growth of microorganisms that can degrade organic matter and nutrients, while biochar adsorption removes any remaining pollutants that are not biodegradable. The performance of this integrated system was evaluated under different operating conditions, such as the hydraulic retention time and the organic loading rate, to optimize its efficiency and sustainability. The results showed that the integrated system achieved high removal efficiencies for chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium–nitrogen (NH4-N), and total phosphorus (TP), with maximum removal rates of 98.5% (77% after the anaerobic–aerobic MBBR and 85.4% after biochar adsorption), 91.2% (87% after the anaerobic–aerobic MBBR and 95.9% after biochar adsorption), and 99.9% (92% after the anaerobic–aerobic MBBR and 91.7% after biochar adsorption), respectively. The proposed method offers a promising solution for the treatment of landfill leachate, which is a critical environmental issue worldwide. This study also highlights the importance of developing more effective and sustainable methods for treating landfill leachate, which can have significant impacts on public health and the environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Circular Economy, Environmental Monitoring, and Sustainable Development)
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Review

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24 pages, 8068 KiB  
Review
University-Campus-Based Zero-Carbon Action Plans for Accelerating the Zero-Carbon City Transition
by Md. Salman Islam, Gengyuan Liu, Duo Xu, Yu Chen, Hui Li and Caocao Chen
Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 13504; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813504 - 09 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1358
Abstract
After three decades of global climate initiatives, local governments’ capabilities to implement policies and solutions have not always been effective in making the urban environment more resilient and adaptive to climate change. All the previous climatic initiatives and decisions were mostly carried out [...] Read more.
After three decades of global climate initiatives, local governments’ capabilities to implement policies and solutions have not always been effective in making the urban environment more resilient and adaptive to climate change. All the previous climatic initiatives and decisions were mostly carried out by governments or affiliated actors on global or regional scales. However, the lack of notable climate actions at the community level is evident in the current crisis of urban sustainability. To drive a radical change toward a zero-carbon transition at the city scale, massive decarbonization is required at the institutional level (academic/nonacademic campus) of a city. Among all the nongovernmental actors, it is always expected that Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) would take the lead in promoting a resilient and sustainable future for the cities through their education, research, and innovation. HEIs’ multidimensional activity resembles the “small scale model of a city” interacting with different subsystems like education, administration, transport, housing, health, etc. However, the present studies were found to be mostly based on specific regions and developed countries. In addition, the previously developed methods of assessing energy consumption and CO2 emissions at the university level lack adaptability for other countries and urban settings. Following the need for a comprehensive method of evaluating energy consumption and accelerating the zero-carbon practice to a broader scale, a new framework is proposed here for a university campus. It can be implemented regardless of the campus type and geographic and weather conditions. After implementing the evaluation methods on a 753-acre campus of Rajshahi University, the campus typology and natural resources were identified. Following that, the behavior patterns of the users in terms of energy usage and waste generation were also determined. Finally, the results show that 1900.71 tons of CO2 was emitted in the academic year 2022. The per-capita CO2 emission was 0.041 tons of CO2. To boost the zero-carbon city transition, three core parameters of scaling-up methods were taken into consideration to evaluate the benefits of zero-carbon campuses. The scalability of the zero-carbon practices was evaluated based on the ideas of (1) expansion—how educating future generations about the environment can have a long-lasting impact, (2) demonstration—adopting innovative practical and technological solutions to exhibit the benefits of zero-carbon practices to society, and (3) collaboration—building strong alliances with state and nonstate actors of the city to promote sustainability through sharing knowledge, innovation, and technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Circular Economy, Environmental Monitoring, and Sustainable Development)
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