„Waste is a resource, but not in the correct place” is a widely known proverb among scientists. This idea has gained traction among professionals in the field of recycling waste and the utilisation of secondary resources. Often, though, these articles only discuss how recycling can be performed and the techniques used to do so. The connection between the reuse of resources from waste and energy consumption, climate impact, the re-mobilization of pollutants and other issues are rarely explored. Ultimately, the question arises: What is the contribution of the respective solution to sustainable development? Some answers can be found in a „hot off the press“ special issue of „Sustainability“
I am grateful to my co-editors Dr. habil. Simone Raatz (Administrative Director of the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology) and Prof. Dr. Ziyang Lou (School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University) for their great support. Our call for papers resulted in a series of highly qualified articles that shed light on various resource management strategies within the framework of the so-called circular economy.
Circular economy approaches mostly include recycling activities, but can also save resources with numerous other strategies, e.g., repair, refurbishment or reduction in material use. There are a huge number of possible combinations of strategies within the circular economy. Today, we know of a large number of economically successful businesses that conserve resources through recycling. This does not apply to the same extent to other strategies based on refurbishment, reuse or remanufacturing, for example. In this respect, we are pleased to feature several articles in this special issue that deal with such business models and highlight also their nexus with other environmental challenges. In addition, there are articles that highlight either new recycling requirements and opportunities, or the limitations of recycling. The authors of the respective articles, as well as the editors, welcome your comments.
