Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the Journal of the Asian Concrete Federation (ACF Journal), we are pleased to announce a Special Issue on “Solid Wastes recycling for Low‑Carbon Construction Materials.”
The global construction sector is responsible for nearly 8 % of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, largely due to the massive production of ordinary Portland cement. Concurrently, the rapid industrialization and urbanization have generated enormous quantities of solid wastes – including industrial solid waste, construction and demolition debris, and municipal incineration residues, etc – which pose severe environmental risks and land‑use pressures. Against this critical backdrop, the recylcing of solid wastes into construction materials offers a compelling, win‑win strategy. Replacing cement clinker with waste‑derived precursors or aggregates significantly curbs the carbon footprint of concrete and mortars; meanwhile, it provides a viable pathway to recycle millions of tonnes of otherwise landfilled or stockpiled residues, transforming them into engineered resources with tangible economic and ecological benefits.
As the ACF Journal enters a new chapter as an Engineering Village (EI) and Scopus‑indexed publication, this Special Issue aims to consolidate the latest advances in the science and technology of low‑carbon construction materials fabricated from various solid wastes. We invite contributions that bridge fundamental materials chemistry, processing engineering, performance characterization, and large‑scale field application, with a particular focus on the quantitative demonstration of both CO₂ mitigation and waste diversion efficiency – the genuine “dual benefit” of this approach. By bringing together researchers and practitioners from across the Asian Concrete Federation member countries and worldwide, we hope to accelerate the transition toward a circular, low‑carbon built environment.
Scope and Topics (including, but not limited to):
- Development and optimization of waste‑based binders, alkali‑activated materials, and blended cements using single or multiple solid wastes;
- Novel activation and processing routes (thermal, mechanical, chemical, or hydrothermal) to enhance reactivity and performance;
- Microstructural characterization and reaction mechanisms of waste‑derived cementitious systems;
- Mechanical properties, durability (e.g., carbonation, chloride ingress, sulfate attack, freeze‑thaw), and long‑term performance of waste‑based concrete and mortars;
- CO₂ sequestration and mineral carbonation of solid wastes to produce carbon‑negative aggregates or binders;
- Life‑cycle assessment (LCA), environmental impact, and cost‑benefit analysis of waste‑based building materials;
- Hybrid approaches integrating machine learning or data‑driven methods for mixture design and performance prediction (where relevant to waste valorisation);
Submission Process
Authors are invited to submit through the journal’s submission portal: https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/acf (ScholarOne / Manuscript Central). During submission, please select the Special Issue category “Solid Waste & Low‑Carbon Materials” (exact category label to be confirmed) from the dropdown menu. Manuscripts must be prepared in Microsoft Word (PDF is not accepted) following the journal’s Author’s Guide, and submitted as four files: a cover letter, a separate title page, a blinded full manuscript, and (optional) a list of at least three suggested reviewers. All submissions undergo double‑blind peer review, and the journal is open access with no article‑processing charges.
Important Dates
- Call for papers open: 1 September 2026
- Full manuscript submission deadline: 31 March 2027
- Expected publication: 2027 (Vol. 13)
Should you have any questions, please contact the Guest Editors – Dr. Zhenhua Duan ([zhduan@tongji.edu.cn]), Prof. Hongniao Chen ([hqchen@gzu.edu.cn]), Dr. Long Li ([longli@tongji.edu.cn], or Dr. Amardeep Singh ([ad.singh@westernsydney.edu.au])) – or the editorial office (Prof. Zhenguo Shi, Managing Editor, zshi@hnu.edu.cn; editorial support (acf2023.acf2023@gmail.com). We value your contributions and look forward to your submissions.
With warm regards,
Dr. Zhenhua Duan (Tongji University) – Lead Guest Editor
Prof. Hongniao Chen (Guizhou University) – Co-Guest Editor
Dr. Long Li (Tongji University) – Co‑Guest Editor
Dr. Amardeep SINGH (Punjab Agricultural University) – Co- Guest Editor
Prof. Caijun Shi (Hunan University) – Editor‑in‑Chief, ACF Journal