Waste management is a relentless challenge faced by municipalities, agriculture, and industrial sectors, characterized by environmental, health, and economic repercussions. Yet, these same waste streams also represent a promising source of valuable resources. Their recovery and transformation into value-added products offer a pathway to lessen environmental degradation, foster sustainable development, and generate economic value. Against the backdrop of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 12 which focuses on responsible consumption and production, this research topic seeks to harness these waste streams optimally.

This Research Topic intends to spotlight the potential of municipal, agricultural, and industrial waste as resources for creating valuable products such as compost, biofuels, bioplastics, and animal feed. Additionally, it aims to propose and scrutinize strategies for their resource-efficient use, emphasizing the alignment with global waste reduction targets set for 2030. The goal is to enhance waste management practices through innovative waste-to-energy and waste-to-resource strategies, providing actionable insights and recommendations for policymakers, waste management professionals, and stakeholders.

Contributions are invited in the form of Original Research, Review, Mini Review, Methods, Systematic Review, Policy and Practice Reviews, Brief Research Report, Case Study, Data Report, and Opinion articles. These contributions should provide comprehensive insights into new research and developments, evaluate existing technologies and methodologies, and discuss regulatory and economic considerations impacting waste management strategies.

To delve deeper into this subject, contributions are sought that explore a variety of dimensions, including but not limited to:

• Technologies for Recovery of Valuable Resources: Exploring and comparing different technologies that convert waste into products, highlighting their benefits and drawbacks.
• Utilizing Waste as a Resource for Value-Added Products: Discussing the environmental and economic benefits derived from waste-to-energy technologies and other innovative practices within the circular economy.
• Economic Analysis: Examining the economic viability and challenges of these resource recovery technologies including market demand, regulatory obstacles, and environmental constraints.
• Case Studies in Waste Management: Presenting global examples of successful waste-to-resource and waste-to-energy projects and their impacts.
• Future Directions in Waste Management: Investigating sustainable solutions and commercialization opportunities in waste management to support a circular economy.
• Energy Recovery and Sustainable Fuel Applications: Assessing the scientific, technological, and moral considerations of converting waste into energy and developing sustainable fuel alternatives.
• Impact on Fossil Fuel Replacement: Analyzing how biomass replacements for fossil fuels might alter existing systems, reduce toxicity, or change the behavior of by-products.

Through this research topic, we aim to promote a deeper understanding and broader discussion on the efficient and innovative utilization of waste as a resource, fostering a more sustainable and economically viable future.

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Frontiers in Sustainable Resource Management

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