Journal profile · Environmental Science-Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Recycling
ISSN 2313-4321 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) · Switzerland
Recycling: CAS Zone 4 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.2 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 11 weeks (community reports); 232 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Recycling is published by Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) and is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Recycling and Waste Management Techniques, Municipal Solid Waste Management and Extraction and Separation Processes, together about 36.1% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Recycling (ISSN 2313-4321) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes original articles, critical reviews, research notes, and short communications in the area of waste re-utilization, waste management technologies, resource recycling policy, and resource recycling practices. It provides an international online forum for research and studies on recycling, resource recovery, and waste utilization across many industries, including glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles, and electronics. We encourage scientists to publish experimental, theoretical, and applied research relating to innovative processes, tools, and methodologies to enable important resource recycling. In addition, articles relating to the evaluation of the recycling process together with inter-connected issues (socio-cultural, political, economic, and legal considerations) related to recycling are also invited.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Environmental Science-Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Editor-in-chief Sustainable Engineering GroupPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 3 in mainland China (about 9%); most named Italy 9, United States 5, Mainland China 3, Australia 2, Switzerland 2 (32 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Recycling and Waste Management TechniquesEnvironmental Science16.7%
- Municipal Solid Waste ManagementEnvironmental Science11.4%
- Extraction and Separation ProcessesEngineering8%
- Microplastics and Plastic PollutionEnvironmental Science7.6%
- Recycled Aggregate Concrete PerformanceEngineering6.7%
- Sustainable Supply Chain ManagementBusiness, Management and Accounting5.3%
- Concrete and Cement Materials ResearchEngineering4.3%
- Recycling and utilization of industrial and municipal waste in materials productionEngineering3.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Green & Sustainable Science & Technology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Green & Sustainable Science & Technology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- CiteScore Q1 · Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceINSPECPublisher website
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.96LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.33LetPub ·
- h-index
- 62OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 411OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.36OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 231LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,036 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 169 | 169 | 117 |
| 2025 | 232 | 232 | 1,115 |
| 2024 | 129 | 129 | 1,611 |
| 2023 | 97 | 97 | 1,924 |
| 2022 | 97 | 97 | 2,521 |
| 2021 | 81 | 81 | 3,861 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 11 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 19.4 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 4.9 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | CHF 1,800 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 1,800 | — | — | |
| LetPub | CHF 1,800 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Open calls for papers10, by deadline
- Lithium-Ion and Next-Generation Batteries Recycling, 2nd EditionDeadline
- Sustainability Education for Recycling: Multidisciplinary Approaches and Innovative PracticesDeadline
- Advancing Recovery of Agricultural WasteDeadline
- Advancing the Circular Economy: A Life Cycle Perspective on Waste ValorizationDeadline
- Celebrating 10 Years of Recycling: Shaping the Future of Waste ManagementDeadline
- Pyrolysis Technology for Sustainable Waste ValorizationDeadline
- Resource Recovery and High-Value Utilization of Renewable Energy Solid WasteDeadline
- Selected Papers from the 1st International Online Conference on RecyclingDeadline
- Emerging Technologies in the Hydrometallurgical Recycling of Critical Metals, 2nd EditionDeadline
- Feature Reviews in Recycling: Waste Processing TechnologiesDeadline
What to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required, 3
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted18
- book reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
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- case reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- commentaryAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- conference reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- editorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- hypothesisAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- letterAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- opinionAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- perspectiveAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- protocolAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- registered reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- systematic reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- technical noteAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- tutorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- viewpointAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
MDPI follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines which state that, in order to qualify for authorship of a manuscript, the following criteria should be observed: Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; Draft the work or review it critically for important intel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest
According to The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, “Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.” All authors mus…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Data availability statements are required for all articles published with MDPI. During the peer review and editorial decision process, authors can be asked to share existing datasets or raw data that have been analyzed in the manuscript, and whether they will be made available to other researchers following publication. Authors will also be asked for the details of any existing datasets that have …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics Statement
Recycling is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We fully adhere to its Code of Conduct and to its Best Practice Guidelines. The editors of this journal enforce a rigorous peer review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsifica…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright / Open Access
Articles published in Recycling will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MDPI will insert the following note at the end of the published text: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publication fees
If you transfer your manuscript to another open access (OA) journal, you will be charged an Article Processing Charge (APC) if your article is accepted for publication. The APC for each journal can be found on the individual journal’s website. For more information about APCs, please see here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Editorial Process and Peer Review
All submissions are thoroughly peer-reviewed by experts within the field and undergo a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure quality, transparency, and scientific integrity. The full editorial procedure is available on the Editorial Process page and is also provided below. Pre-check Pre-check consists of a technical pre-check performed by the Editorial Office and an editorial pre-check …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and Conference Papers
Recycling accepts submissions that have previously been made available as preprints provided that they have not undergone peer review. A preprint is a draft version of a paper made available online before submission to a journal. MDPI operates Preprints, a preprint server to which submitted papers can be uploaded directly after completing journal submission. Note that Preprints operates independen…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
- Country or region
- Switzerland
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2313-4321
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 11 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Recycling
What CAS zone is Recycling in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Recycling is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Green & Sustainable Science & Technology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Recycling?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 5.2 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 7.5, h-index 62.
How long does peer review take at Recycling?
Authors report an average review time of about 11 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of Recycling?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Reference style: Author–date; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required, 3; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Recycling based?
Of the 32 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 3 (about 9%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Italy (9), United States (5) and Mainland China (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Recycling?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Recycling is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and INSPEC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Recycling open access, and what is the APC?
Recycling is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .