Welcome to Sustainability & Circularity NOW

Dear readers,

We are thrilled to usher in a new era with the inauguration of Sustainability & Circularity NOW, a pioneering journal brought to you by our dedicated team at Thieme. This moment is not just a new beginning; it is an opportunity to shape the future. Our planet faces an unprecedented set of environmental challenges. From the critical need to combat climate change and pollution to the urgency of conserving biodiversity and ensuring responsible resource consumption, the task at hand is momentous. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) serve as our global compass, guiding our efforts toward a more sustainable and circular future (https://sdgs.un.org/goals).

Sustainability & Circularity NOW has been established to break down the silos of traditional scientific disciplines and provide an inclusive space for researchers worldwide. We believe that solutions to the complex challenges of our time require multidisciplinary collaboration, innovative thinking, and an ambitious drive for positive change. Our vision for this journal is to be a hub for diverse research topics, focusing on solutions to improve existing molecules, materials, and industrial processes as well as revolutionary discoveries of new, more sustainable molecules, materials, and synthetic procedures. The journal will publish studies on the recovery of building blocks from waste, improvement of existing recycling technologies to make recycling easier and more efficient, clean energy, and much more. Life cycle assessment studies and case studies to foster public and policy debate will also be reported in this journal. Sustainability & Circularity NOW is the perfect platform for bright minds to share their most revolutionary research in the field of chemical science and beyond.

To fully focus on sustainability and circularity, it is important to design both products (chemical structure) and processes (synthesis) to be efficient, safe, and circular [1]. Chemistries and chemicals should prioritize efficiency, minimizing resource and energy usage while employing precise quantities necessary for their intended purposes. Safety is paramount, necessitating formulations that are harmless to human health and the environment, averting the creation of harmful, long-lasting, and mobile substances. Production processes should strive to curtail or eliminate hazardous materials. Embracing circular principles akin to natural cycles is crucial, facilitating closed-loop systems for the retrieval and reutilization of valuable products and waste materials. The principles of Green Chemistry, Circular Chemistry, and Safe and Sustainable-by-Design must collectively guide chemical practices for meaningful contributions toward sustainability.

Sustainability & Circularity NOW is among the first journals with an explicit focus on the importance of circularity for future synthetic and manufacturing developments. Circularity and, within that framework, circular chemistry concern the design of processes to valorize waste streams as feedstocks and to maximize process, resource, and energy efficiency. Such concepts are prerequisites to developing a closed-loop, waste-free chemical industry and a truly circular economy [2].

We invite contributions that broaden our horizons, from groundbreaking discoveries and novel materials to in-depth analyses that enhance our understanding of environmental processes and circular economy mechanisms. Whether your work focuses on technology development, sustainability analysis, or innovative solutions for the SDGs, Sustainability & Circularity NOW welcomes your research with open arms.

As a publication by Thieme, we stand on the solid foundation of a respected institution with a tradition of excellence in scientific publishing. We are proud to be the first fully Gold Open Access journal in the field of sustainability and circularity. In an age marked by digital transformation and global challenges, we understand the importance of accessible, peer-reviewed research.

Our editorial team is devoted to providing you with a seamless publishing experience. We have assembled a remarkable group of Associate Editors who will oversee the peer-review process and guide the strategic direction of the journal. Our mission is to serve you, the research community, and we look forward to your submissions and contributions.

Sustainability & Circularity NOW generally uses Select Crowd Review for reviewing manuscripts. For crowd reviewing, we are constantly looking for new, highly motivated crowd members. Please contact [e-mail] if you would like to become a member of the crowd. The Select Crowd Review process is an interactive and safe way to improve the quality and speed of publishing. It was first introduced for Thieme’s chemical synthesis journal SYNLETT in 2017, and it enables editors to evaluate of a manuscript within a very short time. It has also been available for SynOpen since 2018 and now for Sustainability & Circularity NOW from 2023. Select Crowd Review uses the mechanisms of social media communication to make the review process much faster than classical peer review and still with the same or even better quality.

In addition to publishing with us, you can stay updated on the latest research through our website, www.thieme.com/suscirc-now, and share these valuable insights with your colleagues and networks. We invite you to engage in our online events, discussions, and webinars that tackle the pressing issues of sustainability and circularity. Moreover, to keep up to date with the developments at the journal, you can sign up to Thieme Chemistry’s Circular Chemistry newsletter and follow us on X at @SusCircNOW.

We eagerly anticipate a journey filled with groundbreaking research, collaborative endeavours, and impactful insights. Whether as authors, reviewers, or readers, we welcome you to join our mission at Sustainability & Circularity NOW.

• Best wishes,

• J. Chris Slootweg, Editor-in-Chief

• Sustainability & Circularity NOW

Publication History

Received: 23 October 2023

Accepted: 26 October 2023

Article published online:
02 January 2024

• References

• 1 Flerlage H, Slootweg JC. Nat. Rev. Chem. 2023; 7: 593-594
• 2 Keijer T, Bakker VJ, Slootweg JC. Nat. Chem. 2019; 11: 190-195