Towards sustainability in waste management: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Sustainable waste management is undoubtedly an important topic requiring in-depth research and consideration. Due to a growing number of publications on the subject, there is a need to systematically review the literature on sustainable waste management to identify and evaluate the recorded works. A systematic review of 6,734 academic articles published since 2010 was conducted. The final dataset of 144 articles was classified into twelve subjects: published year, context, geographical region, location, funding, type of waste, sector analyzed, data source, main subjects, methods, results, and period analyzed. The results show that the amount of literature on sustainable waste management was three times higher since 2015 compared to the previous period and in poorer countries, which are facing more environmental concerns than developed countries. A majority of reviewed articles focus on Asia and urban areas. Solid waste holds the attention of most selected studies. The highest portion of the selected research uses case study methodology and primary data. The research gap and limitations pointed out in the study provide practical suggestions for researchers seeking to contribute to sustainable waste management.

Keywords

• waste management
• environmental sustainability
• systematic review