Editorials

Trees constitute an inseparable part of artistic expression in many human cultures. The zoomorphic woodcarving art of the Guarani Mbya Indigenous People—an ethnic group that once densely occupied much of South America—embodies the synergy between bioeconomy, technology, art, and ancestral knowledge of trees and their woods. It reflects the millennial sociocultural relationship between humans, their territory, and sustainable management practices aimed at preserving both ancestral culture and biodiversity. This editorial highlights the connection between wood properties and Indigenous carving art within the context of the Atlantic Forest in southern Brazil, aiming to demonstrate ancestral knowledge of the forest and its species.

The bioeconomy is one of the most significant economic sectors in the global economy, and numerous biobased products and services have been developed in recent years. Most assessments in the field of biobased products focus on process development, technologies, and sustainability assessment. In addition to the most common focus, one of the key areas is the understanding of consumer trends, which are a critical factor in biobased products. These trends are driven by psychological, economic, social, and cultural factors, and their assessment must be developed considering factors like gender, age, income, regional culture, and labeling. Developing effective strategies to introduce biobased products into the market is essential for advancing sustainable development and must be given due emphasis.

Canada’s recent wildfires have released well over half a gigaton of carbon dioxide in a single season, which on par with the annual emissions of Japan or Germany. Removing this volume through engineered carbon capture would cost more than one trillion dollars, yet only a fraction of that is spent on wildfire suppression and sustainable mitigation. Proactive forest management, which includes thinning, harvesting, and putting fuel wood to productive use, offers a far more cost-effective path, reducing fire intensity while creating low-carbon products and rural jobs. Redirecting even a small share of carbon-offset spending toward such projects could fund lasting prevention. For both Canada and elsewhere, investing in prevention is sound climate policy and an economic imperative.

The rapid growth of 3D printing in university makerspaces has created a new but often overlooked waste stream: discarded polylactic acid (PLA) filament from failed prints, support structures, and design errors. Although PLA is a bio-based and recyclable thermoplastic, most of this material currently ends up in landfills. This paper outlines a pilot project at NC State University to close this loop by collecting, processing, and re-extruding PLA waste into new 3D printing filaments. The system, developed through collaboration between the D.H. Hill Makerspace and Hodges Lab, employs a straightforward four-step process—collection, sorting, grinding, and extrusion—thereby achieving over 90% material efficiency. Besides demonstrating technical feasibility, the project emphasizes how campus-scale circular systems can reduce waste, lower costs, and serve as educational models for sustainable manufacturing. This initiative provides a replicable framework for universities and small-scale fabrication facilities seeking to incorporate circular economy principles into their operations.

When the public is asked to name the most globally sustainable industries, they typically respond with solar, wind, geothermal, or EVs. Yet, who would ever imagine the pulp & paper industry, which is often caricatured as a relic, is in fact one of the largest and most secretly sustainable manufacturing sectors. Its entire infrastructure and operations are built on replenishable forests and powered by renewable energy streams to produce recyclable, biodegradable products. The pulp & paper industry has a story that deserves retelling in the age of sustainability metrics and ESG frameworks. Our editorial embarks on a short simple journey to reframe pulp & paper not as a legacy industry, but as a model for sustainable manufacturing by using a clear, quantifiable system to demonstrate its global environmental impact.

Lignocellulosic biomass provides a sustainable substitute for fossil resources in energy, materials, and products. This editorial highlights important developments in biotechnological and bioprocessing methods while analyzing the present pace and trajectory of lignocellulosic valorization. Despite encouraging developments, there are still many obstacles to widespread adoption, such as sociopolitical acceptance, economic viability, and technical complexity. To overcome these obstacles and to hasten the necessary shift to a genuinely sustainable bioeconomy, there is a vital need for integrated biorefinery approaches, sophisticated feedstock engineering, and encouraging policy frameworks. This editorial emphasizes how urgent it is to work together in order to fully utilize lignocellulosic resources.

Among the primary objectives of modern biorefineries is the production of furfural, hydroxymethyl furfural, and their derivatives, which are key compounds for the synthesis of widely used fine chemicals, including plastics and other everyday materials. However, the industrial development of these processes is hindered by the formation of unwanted by-products, most notably humins. Humins are highly cross-linked macromolecules of complex nature with limited technological applications. This editorial offers a brief overview of the “humin issue”, discussing the challenges posed by these materials from an analytical perspective. Despite considerable efforts towards their characterization, the structure of these materials remains largely unresolved, representing an ongoing challenge for green chemistry and the optimization of biorefinery processes.

Biomass with its abundance, renewability, and processability has been extensively studied and utilized for developing electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials as an alternative to non-renewable metal-based EMI shielding materials. This editorial briefly discusses biomass and EMI materials, emphasizing the natural advantages of biomass for EMI shielding materials and current limitations. Finally, future research directions and challenges are predicted, providing insights to promote the development of biomass-based EMI shielding materials.