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Sustainability from an economic and environmental perspective is linked to the way we extract and consume the earth's finite resources and is implicit in the definition of a circular economy (CE) as a model of production and consumption designed to retain value within the economic system. This can include conserving natural resources, making sustainable products by incorporating recyclability in product design, changing consumption behaviour, and adopting more sustainable business models. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of objectives for improving health and education, reducing inequality, and protecting our shared environment globally. The CE is a key enabler to achieving these objectives. The Circular Economy explores how the concepts of CE can help address and meet targets linked to the SDGs. Taking a broad view across different industries and areas, and looking at specific SDGs, this book discusses current activities, standards, policy and legislation, challenges to achieving the SDGs and opportunities for enhancing circularity and sustainability.

The agri-food industry creates a vast amount of waste each year. This is not just a problem for waste management, in terms of finding space to store waste and preventing escape of harmful waste into the environment; it also represents a loss of resources: the chemicals and energy which have gone into the production of this waste. If current waste streams can be converted into useful resources this will have multiple benefits by reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill or similar, reducing the need for other feedstocks and removing the pressure from feedstocks that could be used as food. Research into the different types of waste produced by the agri-food industry and approaches to converting them into useful chemicals or chemical feedstocks has advanced rapidly over the last few years. Covering the latest developments in the valorisation of food and agricultural waste, such as valorisation of citrus peel and industrial wastes, this book is a great resource for researchers interested in waste management, sustainability and the circular economy.

The concept of a circular economy has been gaining increasing attention in recent years. Many of the sources of chemicals we have become reliant on are dwindling and the accumulation of waste products poses a serious environmental problem. By recovering resources from these waste materials, we can reduce our dependence on virgin feedstocks that may not be sustainable as well as reducing the quantity of material going to landfill sites. Incorporating different perspectives from a global authorship, this book aims to introduce systems thinking to the field of waste and resource management. The topics covered range from the use of biogeochemical processes in resource recovery to the application of engineered nanomaterials, with information relevant to both academia and industry. The broad range and cross-disciplinary nature of the topics in this book make it a valuable resource for those working in circular economy research, green chemistry and waste and resource management.