In 2013, in the European Union alone, every person wasted 18 Kg of food, 18,000 Lt of water and generated 34kg of CO2 equivalents, exhausting resources analogous to the size of two basketball courts. Unsurprisingly, management of organic waste and water, promotion of eco-friendly strategies supporting the valorization of waste and tackling the depletion and/or prevention of deterioration of natural resources, and application of greener and safer bio-pharmaceutical and biomedical practices have been at the heart of EU, as well as global, policies and legislative measures. Such policies aim to align environmental conscience with societal and economic factors, and drive the evolution of circular economies, where all concerned stakeholders partake in sustainability actions.

The field of process intensification has witnessed a continuous stream of advancements in cost-effective and eco-friendly technologies. The design of novel reactors controlling heat/mass transfer reactions or improving catalytic activities, and the application of hybrid schemes involving hydrodynamic cavitation, ultra-sound, and electro-pulsation, have proven effective for green solvent-based extractions, green waste valorization and wastewater treatments with minimal carbon footprint. Furthermore, the utilization of anaerobic digestion, multi-factor biorefinery processes, and thermos-catalytic reforming has opened new pathways for waste management and renewable energy production, contributing to tangible steps towards sustainability, whereas innovative cold atmospheric plasma uses have shown great potential in agriculture and biomedicine. Despite these remarkable advances, the implementation of process intensification schemes faces obstacles, particularly in terms of upscaling, reliability, and safety, which deter their adoption by small-scale businesses, especially in countries with weak industrial sectors. Additionally, each processing strategy is tailored to specific streams and optimized for outcomes within the economic realities of the stakeholders involved, making universal policymaking challenging. Hence, it becomes crucial to undertake scientific research and critically review available findings to provide evidence-based support for policymakers. By bridging the gap between research and application, we can drive the necessary transformation towards sustainability.

Under the umbrella of Green Chemistry and Sustainability, we welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review and Perspective articles on themes including, but not limited to:

• Advances in membrane filtration, advanced oxidation (with emphasis on the safety of by-products), reactor design, hybrid schemes with/or catalysis for streamlining intensification processes.

• Green solvent-driven extraction of nutritional value/bioactive compounds from food/agro-products and waste and subsequent valorization of the remaining bio-organic matter.

• Innovative and inexpensive treatments of water/wastewater for agricultural, pharmacological, and biomedical applications.

• Advances in non-conventional extraction/treatment/processing techniques including but not limited to hydrodynamic cavitation, ultrasound, infra-red, pulsed electric fields, cold activated plasma, multi-factor biorefinery, and anaerobic digestion.

• Development or new and/or application of current analytical techniques to evaluate the quality of natural resources in medium-to-high throughput manner.

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