The increase in global population, alongside the high consumption rate of materials and energy, are directly correlated to the generation of tremendous volumes of solid waste. This poses a serious environmental challenge as it is required to be disposed of and recycled successfully. In this context, municipal solid waste is the most heterogeneous residue, which includes food, textiles, fabrics, and other polymers, which makes its reutilization and valorization even more challenging.

To meet the ever-changing requirements of modern society and to develop a resource-enriched planet for the future, there is a strong need to focus on alternative resources in a low-carbon energy system. There is also a need for novel techniques and technologies that can improve the efficiency of the energy sector. Although recycling and reuse are important components of a circular economy, we still need to develop novel, high-quality, and bio-based materials, to converge the ever-increasing demand for goods due to economic growth.

In this sense, Biotechnology is increasingly poised to facilitate the transition to a more circular economy, where various waste streams can be converted into novel alternatives to fossil-based chemical products and while satisfying the planet’s energy requirements. With the concept of biotechnology in mind, it is possible not only to encourage the recycling of such waste materials but also to promote the bioproduction of commercially relevant products, such as bioactive chemicals and biofuels such-as biogas and bio-based polymers. Furthermore, the life cycle analysis (LCA) of these processes represents an optimal tool for benchmarking new products obtained via bio-based processes using renewable feedstocks with those manufactured by conventional processes using fossil-based raw materials.

This Special Issue entitled “Closing the loop: enhancing biotechnological routes for a more circular economy transition” will, therefore, present original research papers and comprehensive reviews that integrate expertise from several areas related to the development and optimization of waste-based recycling processes and upcycling for the production of chemicals, cosmetic and nutraceutical compounds, building blocks, polymers, etc. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

- Screening of novel microbial biocatalysts ( -OMIC analysis)
- Novel enzymatic routes for polymer recycling.
- Metabolic engineering and adaptive laboratory evolution of producing microorganisms/microbial consortia.
- Development and optimization of sustainable bioproduction processes.
- Novel microbial-based value chains.

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Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

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