Preface

Materials and their role in a circular economy: engineering applications Sustainable development depends on significant improvements in the efficient use of resources. It requires a holistic global life cycle perspective from producers to end consumers, especially in a closed loop fashion. Consequently, communities, governmental and business organisations have sought methods for the reuse, recycling, remanufacturing and recovery of products and materials, thereby extending their useful life and reducing quantities of waste. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target “doing more and better with less”, which means that decreasing resource utilization, degradation, and pollution along the entire life cycle, together with an increase in lifestyle quality, can improve the social benefits of economic activities. The resulting paradigm shift has been popularly and broadly termed as the circular economy (CE). The series of International Conferences on Resource Sustainability (icRS) allows researchers and practitioners to exchange ideas on latest development in resource sustainability. icRS 2021 virtually held from University College Dublin (Ireland), 6 th in the series, aims to provide rich opportunities for collaboration between researchers and industrial practitioners in order to advance the critical role of materials in CE as it pertains to underdeveloped, developing and developed economies. At icRS 2021, we will particularly welcome interdisciplinary contributions that involve natural sciences, and engineering applications. List of Conference Chairs, Local Organizing Committee, Program Committee, Award Committee, Advisory Committee, Scientific Committee are available in this pdf.