Waste Recycling: From Pollutants to Green Fuels and Wastewater Treatment

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last five decades, the world has witnessed an intensive use of diverse natural resources such as water, fossil fuels, and agricultural soil for the production of energy, food, and miscellaneous goods. Such behavior has led to the degradation their initial qualities and to the significant increase of their availability. In the year 2020, and despite the Covid-19 pandemic leading to a quasi-paralysis of the world economy, the Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) was reached on 22 August—129 days earlier than the year 1980. This alarming ascertainment reflects the incapability of the globe to cope with the exorbitant demand on these poorly-regenerated natural resources, as well as what begets in terms of energetic unbalance and water, air, and soil pollution. It also highlights the lack of engagement of industrials and individuals towards the valorization of the obliterated products that could be largely exploited for multiple re-valorization cycles. Luckily, the scientific community has engaged by actively suggesting and proposing ground-breaking methods to overcome these issues, all considering the diverse ecosystem components. Such a tendency was confirmed by the increasing number of research published dealing with the valorization of waste as an eco-friendly, flexible, and low-cost alternative for the generation of energy and for environmental application in water treatment, especially in countries where these resources are considered to be an extreme rarity. The present Special Issue lays within the international concern for a “zero liquid/solid discharge” goal, where discharged wastes, commonly considered to be an economical and environmental burden, could be exploited for the generation of efficient, highly-energetic, and low-cost green fuel, which might present a strategic alternative to conventional energy sources. The exploitation of this same waste could also present a significant potential once applied in the remediation and the treatment of wastewaters. Hence, interdisciplinary scientists, researchers, scholars, and engineers, as well as representatives from the industrial sector, are invited to contribute in this Special Issue with their applied and theoretical findings aimed at sustainable and effective socio-economical development. This Special Issue will present a straightforward scientific background for decision makers all over the word in order to back up their engagement for energetic self-sufficiency and fresh water availability.

Dr. Ahmed Amine Azzaz
Guest Editor

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• wastes valorization
• energy
• biomass
• biofuel
• thermal treatment
• wastewater treatment
• industrial effluents
• resources policy
• sustainable approach