Environmental damage and the resulting global warming are two of the most serious threats to living species. These problems are the result of industrialization in all fields. The textile and fashion industries bear a negative impact on the environment and contribute significantly to water, air, and solid waste pollution. Over the last decades, consumer buying habits have shifted, and clothing purchases have increased dramatically. The manufacturing process of these textiles, from pretreatment to dyeing and finishing, involves the use of numerous chemicals that are harmful to both humans and the planet. Textiles have been identified as unsustainable products due to their entire life cycle, from raw material cultivation to manufacturing, and generate a large amount of toxic waste and greenhouse gases. Therefore, embedding sustainability in strategy is essential to meet evolving investor pressure, consumer demand, and regulatory requirements. More alternatives are available, such as ecofriendly textiles. Governments are promoting the idea of ecolabels and sustainability standards that endorse the textile’s “ecofriendliness”. Ecolabeling stimulates consumers and manufacturers to buy and produce ecotextiles, simultaneously allowing consumers to compare the various products. Consumers are gradually requesting more ecofriendly products. To save our environment and future generations, the textile industry must become more sustainable. Major brands should implement sustainable manufacturing practices. This review paper investigates the requirements of ecofriendly textiles, restricted substances, and ecolabeling in the textile industry and highlights the need to enhance the expertise and information existing in the design process with regard to the sustainability of finished products in order to create a more sustainable textile sector. Such a shift is only feasible if the designers are guided by a clear vision of design for sustainability.

The global shift toward renewable energy and circular economy models requires industrial systems that minimize waste and recover value across entire life cycles. This review synthesizes recent advances in by-product recovery technologies supporting renewable energy and circular industrial processes. Thermal, biological, chemical/electrochemical, and biotechnological routes are analyzed across battery and e-waste recycling, bioenergy, wastewater, and agri-food sectors, with emphasis on integration through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), techno-economic analysis (TEA), and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) coupled to process simulation, digital twins, and artificial intelligence tools. Policy and economic frameworks, including the European Green Deal and the Critical Raw Materials Act, are examined in relation to technology readiness and environmental performance. Hybrid recovery systems, such as pyro-hydro-bio configurations, enable higher resource efficiency and reduced environmental impact compared with stand-alone routes. Across all technologies, major hotspots include electricity demand, reagent use, gas handling, and concentrate management, while process integration, heat recovery, and realistic substitution credits significantly improve life cycle outcomes. Harmonized LCA-TEA-MCDA frameworks and digitalized optimization emerge as essential tools for scaling sustainable, resource-efficient, and low-impact industrial ecosystems consistent with circular economy and renewable energy objectives.

Organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology, namely, organic solar cells (OSCs), have garnered attention as a sustainable and adaptable substitute for traditional silicon-based solar panels. Their lightweight construction, adaptability with various substrates, and capacity for low-energy production techniques make them formidable contenders for sustainable energy applications. Nonetheless, due to the swift advancement of OPV technology, there is increasing apprehension that existing life cycle assessment (LCA) studies may inadequately reflect their environmental consequences. This review aggregates and assesses LCA research to ascertain the extent to which existing studies accurately represent the genuine sustainability of OPVs. This paper conducts a comprehensive analysis of materials, manufacturing processes, device architecture, and end-of-life pathways, identifying methodological deficiencies, emphasizing critical environmental performance metrics, and examining how conceptual product design can improve environmental results. The results highlight the necessity for standardized, transparent LCA frameworks adapted to the changing OPV landscape.

Neodymium-Iron-Boron (NdFeB) based permanent magnets are indispensable in today’s technology-driven society. Moreover, their use is likely to increase since they are key in clean energy applications such as wind turbines, hybrid/electric vehicles, and electric bikes. They contain critical raw materials as rare earth elements are used. Indeed, permanent magnets are considered strategic materials by the EU, and their recycling represents a potential secondary supply to decrease the import dependence. The VALOMAG project is developing a technical solution to recover rare earth (RE) based permanent magnets by dismantling end-of-life (EoL) products such as computer hard disc drives, electric motors, and generators from electric vehicles and wind turbines. It also assesses two short loop recycling technologies: Hydrogen Decrepitation (HD) or Hydrogenation–Disproportionation–Desorption–Recombination (HDDR) and strip-casting for high and medium quality magnet wastes; and hydrometallurgical processes for EoL low-quality magnets. Moreover, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Process Integration with a Flowsheet simulation tool will integrate the whole recycling value chain (collection, dismantling, physical and chemical treatment options, and re-manufacturing) and assess the environmental impact and processes efficiency. A market study on the types and expected future quantities for the scrap magnets and the characterisation of the EoL magnets from hard disc drives (HDD) will be presented as preliminary results. Pre-treatment and sorting of 2.5 tons of NdFeB magnets scraps were carried out, and the two short loop recycling routes and the hydrometallurgical route are under investigation at the lab and pilot scale. The results will be used to develop a process integration and to assess the three routes through LCA.