Bio-based plastics in a circular economy: A review of recovery pathways and implications for product design

Bio-based plastics are attracting increasing attention due to their perceived sustainability and circularity. While enabling circularity by using renewable feedstocks, they still contribute to plastic pollution. Furthermore, their rapidly growing market will cause bio-based plastics to constitute significant fractions of plastic waste,...

Got Whey? Sustainability Endpoints for the Dairy Industry through Resource Biorecovery

Whey has applications in food, beverages, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, and the medical sector. However, it remains a massive dairy residue worldwide (160.7 million m³ year⁻¹), with high organic and nutrient loads. About 42% is used for low-value products such as animal feed and fertilizers or is even directly...

The circular built environment toolbox: A systematic literature review of policy instruments

The built environment plays a central role in the transition towards the circular economy as they concentrate major consumer and polluter human activities. However, the way BEs are – and need to be – driven by policy to reach cities’ circular goals is still an under-researched aspect. Particularly, there is limited knowledge of policy...

Green Chemistry, Biocatalysis, and the Chemical Industry of the Future

In the movement to decarbonize our economy and move away from fossil fuels we will need to harness the waste products of our activities, such as waste lignocellulose, methane, and carbon dioxide. Our wastes need to be integrated into a circular economy where used products are recycled into a manufacturing carbon cycle. Key to this will be the...

Wastescapes in port cities. Naples and Rotterdam: a spatial and institutional comparison on the role of ports as promoters of circular economy

Ports have historically followed a linear model of growth. Formation, expansion,<br/>reallocation, abandonment, and redevelopments are just some of the steps that are followed over time by ports from all over the world. Circularity – a goal that both ports and cities hope to achieve in the near future – is not a new topic anymore. Although the...