Circular Economy and Life Cycle Assessment: Closing the Loop for Sustainable Resource Management
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 194
Special Issue Editor
Interests: life cycle assessment; sustainability assessment; carbon balances; circular economy
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
As a response to the globally increasing environmental pressures and resource constraints, the concept of a circular economy has emerged as a key framework for achieving sustainable resource management. Unlike a traditional linear economy (take-make-dispose), the circular economy seeks to close the loop through promoting a circular model based on the reuse, repair, refurbishment, and recycling of materials and products. This paradigm shift is essential for reducing waste, minimizing environmental impacts, and preserving natural resources for future generations. Life cycle assessments (LCAs) are a critical tool in evaluating the environmental performance of products and processes within the circular economy. By analyzing the entire life cycle—from raw material extraction to production, use, and disposal—LCA provides valuable insights into the sustainability of resource management practices. However, LCA still faces many methodological challenges when assessing circular economy systems. These challenges include accounting for the benefits of recycling and reuse, dealing with data gaps, and developing standardized metrics that accurately reflect circularity principles.
This Special Issue, entitled "Circular Economy and Life Cycle Assessment: Closing the Loop for Sustainable Resource Management," aims to highlight cutting-edge research and innovative methodologies that advance the integration of circular economy principles with life cycle assessments. The contributions in this Issue will underscore the importance of this interdisciplinary approach in achieving sustainable development goals and fostering resilient, resource-efficient systems.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- The development of new LCA methodologies tailored for circular systems.
- The integration of circularity indicators into LCA frameworks.
- Addressing data gaps and uncertainties in circular economy assessments.
- Improving data quality and availability for secondary materials and processes.
- Case studies on the LCA of recycled materials and products.
- LCAs of emerging technologies that support circular economy principles.
- The comparison of different circular economy metrics and their implications for LCA.
- LCAs of end-of-life scenarios for circular products and materials.
- Challenges in modeling closed-loop supply chains and their environmental impacts.
- Assessing the carbon balance and sequestration potential of bio-based materials.
- The application of consequential LCA to inform policy decisions in the circular economy.
- Social and environmental impacts of circular economy practices from an LCA perspective.
I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Andrea Di Maria
Guest Editor
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
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
- sustainable resource management
- carbon sequestration
- policy decision making
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.
