Water infrastructure systems face numerous challenges including aging facilities, emerging contaminants, and increasing demands for resource recovery. Current approaches are often not well suited to manage emerging challenges and addressing them may require technological solutions that have not yet been implemented in an operational environment or have not yet achieved widespread acceptance. Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) offers a unique opportunity for water infrastructure applications. HTL enables conversion of the organic matter in wet wastes like sewage sludge into biocrude (a fuel...

Catalysis sits at the heart of circular innovation-turning diverse carbon streams into value while minimizing waste and energy. This session brings together advances across thermal, electro‑, photo‑, and bio‑ catalytic platforms that upgrade biomass and waste plastics into low‑carbon fuels, enable circular polymer systems designed for reuse and regeneration, and drive water treatment through selective, low‑footprint oxidation pathways. Speakers will highlight design principles that cut across sectors: feedstock flexibility, selectivity and step‑economy, catalyst recovery and reuse,...

This session is sponsored by Flow subteam of the ACS Green Chemistry Pharmaceutical Roundtable. Despite the exponential growth in research in continuous manufacturing techniques, the production of specialty chemicals and specifically pharmaceuticals remain largely dependent on batch processes. However, sustainability and logistical considerations suggests that this trend is slowly changing, though several technical hurdles still exist in transitioning to a continuous process. This session on Developing Flow Solutions to Enhance Process Sustainability provides an opportunity to see...

Based on the overwhelming responses for Sustainable Process Design for the last several years, we continue to bring the current and forefront research findings to our session. This session will highlight Innovation for Industry and Infrastructure focused processes that are inspired by novel design strategies leading to successful application of technologies to enable a circular-sustainable economy. Case studies will be presented to illustrate how sustainable process design plays key role in industry/academia/NGO that have successfully implemented the novel design in chemistries, synthetic...

The combination of company ambitions/circularity commitments, evolving regulations across the globe requiring increasing recycled content, and stakeholder expectations is driving a need for higher quantities of recycled plastics. Traditional mechanical recycling provides a low cost and low CO2 emission solution for many applications, but many packaging applications have needs for even higher quality/higher purity recyclate for applications such as food and drug packaging, sensitive hygiene categories (e.g. diapers, fem care products), and complex technical applications such as...

The global transition to sustainable energy is accelerating, but its opportunities and burdens are not evenly shared. For Africa and much of the Global South, the challenge is not only to decarbonize but to do so while expanding access to affordable, reliable energy for rapidly growing populations. This dual imperative: closing energy-access gaps while shifting to low-carbon systems, makes the regions transition uniquely complex. Across the world, innovation continues to shape the pace and direction of renewable-energy adoption. Yet significant disparities persist. Green-technology patents...

Polymer materials are indispensable to modern society, enabling technologies across packaging, transportation, electronics, healthcare, aerospace, and countless other sectors. However, their production relies mostly on fossil feedstocks, and most plastic products follow a linear make use dispose life cycle. With only about 9% of global plastics being recycled, the growing environmental burden and threats to resource security underscore the urgent need to transition toward a circular economy for plastics. While mechanical recycling remains the dominant strategy, its effectiveness is...