Waste Volarization: Challenges, Approaches and Technologies to Recycle Wastewater

Water scarcity prevents millions from accessing freshwater globally. Water is an essential resource that is required to sustain life. Its availability has to be adequate, safe and easily accessible. Untreated wastewater is widely used in agriculture in many countries; however, this creates serious environmental and public health concerns. Thus, treated wastewater is more suitable and environmentally friendly than untreated wastewater. Across the globe, wastewater managers are responsible for ensuring that effluent released into the environment does not degrade the quality of recipient water bodies. In fact, untreated wastewater can have a catastrophic impact on the environment, and the industrial sector contributes to approximately 25% of wastewater production globally, ranking second only to agriculture in terms of water consumption. Thus, in order to combat the problems associated with the use of untreated industrial wastewater, we propose a multidisciplinary approach to handle wastewater as a potential resource. To reduce water consumption by the industrial sector, it is necessary to provide and illustrate best practices for wastewater treatment and water reuse. Sustainable wastewater management means using safe, affordable and readily available wastewater treatment techniques. Wastewater treatment and management is the overall process of improving the quality of wastewater from the point of production to the point of discharge. Water recycling and reuse should also be considered in addition to the elimination of pollution. Generally, the improving processes manipulate the physical, biological and chemical properties of wastewater to eliminate both the known and emerging contaminants from the water, eventually enabling their safe release into the environment. This Special Issue of the MDPI Journal of Sustainability focuses on some of the currently known and emerging industrial wastewater treatment techniques that are considered as essential in achieving sustainability in water resource management.

Dear Colleagues,

The global reuse of treated wastewater for agricultural purposes shows wide variability ranging from 1.5 to 6.6%. More than 10% of the global population consumes agriculture-based products, which are cultivated by wastewater irrigation. Treated wastewater reuse has experienced rapid growth and the volumes have been increased by ~10 to 29% per year in Europe, the USA, China and up to 41% in Australia. Upon the utilization of the treated wastewater, ensuring the safety of the environment and human health is a global concern and poses a challenge for the sustainable development of human beings. This Special Issue is collecting research papers aimed at a wide range of environmental topics: water and industrial wastewater treatment and management and reusability; soil degradation and importance of industrial wastewater management and the challenges; application of membrane technology in waste treatment process; waste management and its application to achieve circular economy; profiling of microbial community during bioremediation of waste management; mechanism of phytoremediation for waste detoxification; application of life cycle assessment (LCA) in solid waste and water reuse management; and exploiting microorganisms for the treatment of wastewater enabling their safe reuse. Contributions describing novel and significant knowledge, scientific results and advanced applications in the field of environmental science and technology are welcome. This Special Issue provides an integrated view of the trends in solving the problems associated with the achievement of sustainability in environmental technology.

This Special Issue will publish experimental and review papers, as well as short communication, discussing recent developments in the remediation of environmental pollutants through physical, chemical and biological methods. The topics of the papers to be submitted to this Special Issue are defined by the keywords presented below.  

Aim of the Special Issue and how the subject relates to the journal scope.

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together high-quality original research and reviews highlighting the significant role of the management and recycling of wastewater for safe disposal. Contributions should focus on the waste treatment techniques and mechanisms, where endless significant contributions can be made and can be of huge interest with respect to future research prospects.

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

Suggested themes:

• Understanding the negative impact associated with untreated industry wastewater and how to minimize environmental risks.
• Obtain an overview of the importance of industrial wastewater management and the challenges inherent to this type of wastewater.
• Best practices for water reuse which are applicable in various geographical zones, with a particular focus on solutions tailored to emerging economies.
• Identification and profiling of pollutants from waste.
• Novel technologies for resource recovery from waste.
• Application of membrane technology in waste treatment process.
• Waste management and its application to achieve a circular economy.
• Profiling of the microbial community during bioremediation of waste management.
• Mechanism of phytoremediation for waste detoxification.
• Application of life cycle assessment (LCA) in solid waste management.
• Role of microorganisms in solid waste management.

I/We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Ammaiyappan Selvam
Chief Guest Editor

Dr. Davidraj Johnravindar
Prof. Dr. Kumarasamy Murugesan
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.

• Industrial wastewater treatment
• Industrial wastewater reuse
• Effective pollutant removal
• Urban wastewater
• Advanced oxidation processes
• Integrated technologies
• Membrane systems
• Advanced biological treatment
• Nutrient recovery
• Renewable energy.