Advances in Wastewater Valorization and Resource Recovery

BackgroundWastewater is no longer regarded only as a stream to be treated, but increasingly as a resource from which energy, nutrients, water, and value-added compounds can be recovered. Water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) are at the center of this shift, moving from a treatment-only mandate toward becoming hubs for product recovery, energy neutrality, and circular bioeconomy supply chains. Microbial bioprocesses underpin this transition, supporting nutrient recovery, biopolymer and platform chemical synthesis, biomass valorization, and water reuse from real, variable wastewater matrices. Recent progress in meta-omics, synthetic biology, process modeling, nanotechnology, and reactor design has expanded our ability to engineer the communities that drive recovery. Despite this progress, important gaps remain regarding the recovery of high-value products from real wastewater, the creation and expansion of markets for recovered products, the reduction of operating costs in WRRFs, the fate of emerging contaminants and antimicrobial resistance genes, and the demonstration of laboratory innovations in robust full-scale operations.GoalThis Research Topic aims to bring together advances in the valorization of wastewater and the recovery of energy, nutrients, water, and value-added products through microbial bioprocesses. Rather than focusing on the optimization of any single treatment process, the collection emphasizes how recovered resources can be turned into viable products, how new markets and end uses for those products can be developed, and how WRRFs can lower operating costs and improve resilience at scale. By combining microbiology, bioprocess engineering, environmental biotechnology, nanotechnology, and systems biology, we seek to highlight strategies that enable resource recovery, support circular bioeconomy supply chains, and provide researchers and practitioners with an updated view of how industrial microbiology can deliver more sustainable and economically viable wastewater management.ScopeWe welcome submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes: o Recovery of value-added products from wastewater: bioplastics (PHA), biosurfactants, single-cell protein, enzymes, pigments, and platform chemicals, with emphasis on yield, purity, and downstream recovery from real wastewater matrices o Market creation and expansion for recovered products, including quality standards, end-use validation, regulatory pathways, and supply chain integration o Nutrient removal and recovery (nitrogen, phosphorus) and conversion into marketable fertilizers and soil amendments, including anammox, partial nitritation, and bio-P processes framed around recovery o Microbial electrochemical technologies (microbial fuel cells, microbial electrolysis cells) for energy and chemical recovery o Algal and algal-based bioprocesses for nutrient recovery, CO2 capture, biomass valorization, and circular bioeconomy applications o Fungal and fungi-based bioprocesses for valorization of organic waste streams o Water reuse and the recovery of high-quality water from industrial and municipal streams o Bioremediation and recovery routes for emerging contaminants (pharmaceuticals, micropollutants, PFAS, heavy metals), including removal of antimicrobial resistance genes o Reduction of energy, chemical, and operating costs in WRRFs through bioprocess innovation o Advancements in WRRF process operations demonstrated at pilot and full scale o Application of meta-omics, machine learning, and modeling to optimize recovery performance and product quality o Sensor development and real-time monitoring tools for recovery-oriented process control o Synthetic biology, bioaugmentation, and engineered consortia for tailored product recovery o Industrial wastewater valorization in agri-food, pulp and paper, textile, pharmaceutical, and chemical sectors o Techno-economic and life-cycle perspectives on wastewater valorization and product recovery technologies Topic editors: Sharon Velasquez Orta, Neeraj K Aggarwal, Rodrigo Labatut, GOUR GOPAL SATPATI, Pr. TANANE Omar Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82811/advances-in-wastewater-valorization-and-resource-recovery