Waste Upcycling: Catalytic Approaches and Applications Putting Catalysis at the Service of Circular Economy.

Waste upcycling is a key pillar of circular economy, enabling the conversion of discarded resources into high-value products, while reducing environmental impact and resource consumption. In the Editorial for the Topical Collection on "Waste Upcycling: Catalytic Approaches and Applications," the guest editors Stefano Protti, Davide Ravelli, Chiara Samorì, Manish Shetty, and Shimei Xu resume briefly the key role of catalytic approaches for the valorization of different waste streams, including plastics, biomass, wastewater, and carbon dioxide. The contributions showcase the diversity of catalytic technologies, notably thermal, photo-, electro-, and mechano-chemical approaches, and their role in transforming waste into valuable chemicals, materials, and energy-related products.