Transforming Waste to Energy: Innovations in Sustainable Engineering

The increasing generation of waste is a pressing global challenge, driven by rapid urbanization, industrialization, and population growth. Landfills are nearing capacity and incineration, while reducing bulk, often leads to environmental pollution through harmful emissions. As the world moves towards a low-carbon, circular economy, waste-to-energy (WtE) systems have emerged as a vital solution, offering the dual benefits of managing waste and generating renewable energy. Cutting-edge engineering innovations are at the forefront of transforming organic, municipal, and industrial waste streams into valuable forms of energy, such as electricity, heat, and biofuels, supporting sustainable development and resilient energy systems.

Despite the significant promise of WtE technologies, widespread adoption faces multiple barriers, including technological limitations, economic feasibility, regulatory complexities, and public perception challenges. Traditional incineration processes have been criticized for their environmental impact, incentivizing the development of advanced solutions that are both efficient and eco-friendly. The goal of this Research Topic is to explore the latest innovations in sustainable engineering practices that maximize energy recovery while minimizing environmental footprint. This collection seeks to address critical hurdles in implementation, highlight breakthroughs in waste conversion techniques, and present interdisciplinary strategies for integrating WtE systems into existing urban and industrial infrastructures. By advancing research and collaborative dialogue, this topic aims to chart a path toward scalable, economically viable, and environmentally responsible waste-to-energy conversion.

We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review and Perspective articles on themes including, but not limited to:

• Emerging waste-to-energy technologies (e.g., anaerobic digestion, gasification, pyrolysis, plasma arc)
• Innovations in process engineering and reactor design for WtE applications
• System integration and optimization within municipal and industrial frameworks
• Life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis of WtE methods
• Environmental impact mitigation and carbon capture in WtE systems
• Policy, regulatory, and social considerations in sustainable WtE deployment

We encourage submissions from multidisciplinary teams and welcome contributions focusing on technical, environmental, economic, and policy aspects. Both fundamental research and applied engineering studies will be considered as part of this Research Topic.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Waste-to-Energy (WtE), Sustainable Engineering. Innovative Technologies, Circular Economy, Environmental Impact

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.