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Digital evolution and mobile developments are carving a new era that affects human behaviour and global governance. Interconnectivity and flow of information through various types of modern means create new opportunities for cooperation and ways to work. Waste management could not stay unaffected by these changes. New potentials are arising for the sector, offering a novel field for innovation, changing the way waste practices are applied. In this framework, mobile products and apps can become valuable tools for authorities, companies, civilians and other stakeholders, integrating these technologies in the battle for environmental protection, recycling, etc. This article examines the unexplored challenges of mobile apps to deliver sustainable waste management with emphasis on recycling and waste prevention performance, especially for emerging developing countries. It presents the opportunities that are involved in using mobile apps to improve both the systemic performance of a specific waste management system and the individual behaviour of the users. Furthermore, the article reviews the most important relevant literature and summarises the key findings of the recent research on mobile apps and human behaviour. Useful conclusions are drawn for both the content and the format of the mobile apps required for recycling and waste prevention. Finally, the article presents the most characteristic mobile apps that are already in place in the waste management sector.

The term techno-economic sustainability assessment describes a methodology to assess the technical feasibility and economic sustainability of a process or a product. The methodology provides a set of sustainability principles to be fulfilled by the process or the product and develops a set of criteria and indicators to show how well these sustainability principles are fulfilled. To assess the techno-economic sustainability indicators, the process or product in question has to be optimised following system engineering and process design principles. The overall sustainability assessment of biobased products requires also the parallel environmental and social sustainability assessment. The chapter is modular, structured in three sections. In Section 1, The methodology for techno-economic sustainability assessment of resource efficiency and utilisation of renewable feedstock for the production of biobased products is presented and criteria and indicators are proposed for alternative feedstock. In Section 2, the methodology for techno-economic sustainability assessment of the conversion routes of renewable feedstock resources to biobased products is presented and criteria and indicators are proposed for alternative processing routes. In Section 3, the methodology for techno-economic sustainability assessment of the alternative End-of-Life routes for biobased products is presented and criteria and indicators are proposed for each major End-of-Life route.

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