Received: 27 November 2024 Accepted: 26 December 2024 Published: 1 January 2025 Citation: Oleniacz, R.; Grzesik, K. Assessment and Analysis of Waste Treatment and Environmental Management. Energies 2025, 18, 138. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18010138 Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/). Editorial Assessment and Analysis of Waste Treatment and Environmental Management Robert Oleniacz * and Katarzyna Grzesik Department of Environmental Management and Protection, Faculty of Geo-Data Science, Geodesy and Environmental Engineering, AGH University of Krakow, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Krakow, Poland; grzesikk@agh.edu.pl * Correspondence: oleniacz@agh.edu.pl 1. Introduction The waste management sector plays a crucial role within the broader environmental management system. This sector impacts the environment both directly and indirectly, potentially causing adverse effects such as pollution of air, water, and soil. However, it also offers significant environmental benefits when waste recycling and energy recovery processes are conducted effectively. By implementing responsible waste management practices, this sector could contribute to reducing pollution and conserving resources through sustainable recycling and recovery initiatives [1–3]. Properly selected and managed waste processing methods should deliver economic benefits at reasonable environmental costs while also being socially acceptable. Achieving a balance between economic gains and ecological responsibility is essential for sustainable waste management practices [4,5]. The adoption of a circular economy enables the reuse of waste materials and the conservation of essential raw materials—including critical resources and non-renewable fuels—while also reducing the environmental impact across the entire product life cycle [6–8]. Focusing on recycling and waste recovery can help us to realize the vision of a zero-waste system, fostering changes within industrial systems, including manufacturing processes and the integration of Industry 4.0 technologies [8–10]. Certain market conditions may render the recycling or recovery of some waste unprof- itable. This can lead to wasted materials and energy, the potential for serious environmental issues, and even the risk of failure or collapse within parts of the waste management system. Examples include directing waste fractions that can be recycled organically or materially to landfills or to incineration [11–14], improper storage or landfill of troublesome waste leading to soil and water environment pollution, uncontrolled biogas generation and greenhouse and odor gas emissions, or causing spontaneous combustion and fires in land- fills [15–19]. This also includes the illegal disposal of flammable waste through deliberate burning by arson [20–23], as well as the open burning of agricultural residues or municipal solid waste [24–27] and the combustion of waste in residential furnaces [28–30]. The challenges encountered by waste management and environmental management systems differ across regions, influenced by factors such as economic development, resi- dents’ lifestyles and habits, and the effectiveness of local regulations, strategies, and legal enforcement [31–35]. Various approaches are available for decision-making in this area, ranging from basic to advanced methods. These include data-generation techniques (e.g., surveys), simple assessment methods (e.g., benchmarking), and more complex assess- ment methods (e.g., multi-criteria decision-making) [36]. However, it remains essential to conduct detailed studies on specific types of waste and sewage, as well as on the chal- lenges associated with their processing, particularly regarding their environmental impact. Energies 2025, 18, 138 https://doi.org/10.3390/en18010138