Geotechnical and Materials Characterization of Industrial Waste Streams for Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Applications

Industrial waste stream management represents an environmental challenge, but also an opportunity for resource reclamation and beneficial reuse. Simultaneously the water and wastewater sector require sustainable resilient and cost-effective infrastructure materials. Many industrial wastes and by-products may have physical, chemical, mineralogical, and engineering characteristics that allow their use as alternative or supplementary materials in water and wastewater infrastructure. However, safe, and efficient implementation requires a thorough characterization and a clear understanding of their engineering behavior, environmental performance, and long-term durability. Beyond technical performance, the uptake of these materials is also shaped by regulatory frameworks, utility decision-making, and standards development - factors that determine whether characterized materials ever reach field implementation.The goal of this Special Issue is to advance the understanding of industrial waste derived materials through integrated geotechnical, materials, hydraulic, chemical, environmental, and governance characterization. This issue calls for contributions that investigate the fundamental properties of industrial waste streams and assess their suitability, performance, and limitations for use in water and wastewater infrastructure.This issue invites the research papers on the following topic, but are not limited to:• Characterization of industrial waste streams for water and wastewater applications.• Industrial waste-derived materials for water and wastewater infrastructure.• Geotechnical characterization of industrial waste streams and by-products.• Engineering behavior of industrial waste-derived materials.• Blended and composite materials for water and wastewater infrastructure applications.• Durability and long-term performance of water and wastewater infrastructure.• Transport and fate of contaminants through waste-derived materials.• Laboratory, pilot-scale, and field investigations, including field implementation, monitoring, quality control, and performance validation.• Risk assessment, standards, specifications, and regulatory considerations governing the beneficial use of industrial waste-derived materials in water and wastewater infrastructure.• Governance, Policy, and Adoption Barriers for Beneficial Reuse of Industrial Waste in Water/Wastewater Infrastructure.• Life-cycle assessment, environmental sustainability, circular economy, and techno-economic evaluation of waste-derived infrastructure materials.• Data-driven and emerging characterization approaches, including machine learning, advanced imaging, spectroscopy, digital characterization, and predictive modeling.We promote interdisciplinary studies that connect material composition and structure to geotechnical and hydraulic behavior, environmental performance, and infrastructure functionality and provide a scientific and engineering foundation for the safe, reliable, and sustainable reuse of industrial waste streams in water and wastewater infrastructure. Encouragement is given to studies that go beyond basic characterization to establish structure–property–performance relationships, to evaluate long-term behavior or to demonstrate field-scale applicability. Topic editors: Shamshad Alam, Sarat Das, Hemei Sun Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85742/geotechnical-and-materials-characterization-of-industrial-waste-streams-for-water-and-wastewater-infrastructure-applications