Advances on Waste Valorization : New Horizons for a More Sustainable Society

Climate change, energy crisis, resource scarcity, and pollution are major issues humankind will be facing in future years. Sustainable development has become a priority for the world’s policy makers since humanity’s impact on the environment has been greatly accelerated in the past century with rapidly increasing population and the concomitant sharp decrease of ultimate natural resources. Finding alternatives and more sustainable ways to live, in general, is our duty to pass on to future generations, and one of these important messages relates to waste. Waste from different types (e.g., agricultural, food, industrial) is generated day by day in extensive quantities, generating a significant problem in its management and disposal. A widespread feeling of “environment in danger” has been present everywhere in our society in recent years, which, however, has not yet crystallized in a general consensus of cutting waste production in our daily lives. Many methods could achieve sustainable development, methods that could not only improve waste management but could also lead to the production of industrially important chemicals, materials, and fuels, in essence, valuable end products from waste.