Abstract
Due to the acceleration of urbanization, the municipal waste (MW) problem has transformed into a global challenge for urban sustainability. To elucidate historical trends, current focal points, and future directions in MW research, we conducted a bibliometric analysis and employed knowledge graph visualization to scrutinize a total of 34 212 articles, which were published between 1991 and 2021 in the Web of Science (WoS) core database. The results indicated that current major research themes encompass waste classification and recycling, waste management and public behavior, waste disposal methods and technologies, as well as environmental impact and evaluation. There has been a shift in the research focus from the environmental impacts of waste incineration to sustainable management related issues. A comparison of research from six typical countries revealed the differences in research priorities and techniques advantages. Scholars from the USA and Britain initiated MW research earlier than other countries and investigated management issues in depth, such as public behavior and willingness to pay. Meanwhile, Japanese, German, and Swedish scholars conducted extensive studies on advanced waste treatment technologies, such as disposal and recycling, risk assessment, and waste-to-energy techniques. Chinese scholars placed particular emphasis on end-of-pipe treatments and their associated environmental impacts. Hotspots and potential future frontiers were identified by burst detection analysis. Keywords with high value of burst index (BI) worldwide are food waste and circular economy. Chinese scholars have put great efforts on waste environmental impact and its recycling technologies, while we’ re expecting to further investigating vulnerable population. Furthermore, this study contributes to bridging the regional gap of scientific research among different countries and fostering international collaboration.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barr S, 2007. Factors influencing environmental attitudes and behaviors. Environment and Behavior, 39(4): 435–173. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916505283421
Bayar Y, Gavriletea M D, Sauer S et al., 2021. Impact of municipal waste recycling and renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions across the European Union (EU) member countries. Sustainability, 13(2): 656. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020656
Berge N D, Ro K S, Mao J D et al., 2011. Hydrothermal carbonization of municipal waste streams. Environmental Science & Technology, 45(13): 5696–5703. doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/es2004528
Bhattacharjee S, Panja A, Kumar R et al., 2023. Municipal solid waste compost: a comprehensive bibliometric data-driven review of 50years of research and identification of future research themes. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(37): 86741–86761. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28663-x
Bulatov N K, Toilybayev A E, Suleyeva N Z et al., 2021. Development of the model (algorithm) of the efficient transportation logistics with the purpose of collection and transportation of the solid municipal waste to the places of their recycling. Environment Development and Sustainability, 23(2): 2015–2037. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00661-w
Bulkeley H, Gregson N, 2009. Crossing the threshold: municipal waste policy and household waste generation. Environment and Planning A-Economy and Space, 41(4): 929–945. doi: https://doi.org/10.1068/a40261
Caprai V, Lazaro A, Brouwers H J H, 2019. Waterglass impregnation of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash applied as sand replacement in mortars. Waste Management, 86: 87–96. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2019.01.025
Cetrulo T B, Marques R C, Cetrulo N M et al., 2018. Effectiveness of solid waste policies in developing countries: a case study in Brazil. Journal of Cleaner Production, 205: 179–187. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.09.094
Chen C M, 2006. CiteSpace II: Detecting and visualizing emerging trends and transient patterns in scientific literature. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57(3): 359–377. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.20317
Ding H, Tang J, Qiao J et al., 2021. Control methods of municipal solid wastes incineration process: a survey. 2021 Proceedings of the 40th Chinese Control Conference (CCC), IEEE: 662–667.
Fadaei A, 2021. Study of solid waste (municipal and medical) management during the COVID-19 pandemic: a review study. Reviews on Environmental Health, 37(4): 559–566. doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2021-0092
Fernandez B A, Feijoo G, Dias F C, 2020. Turning waste management into a carbon-neutral activity: practical demonstration in a medium-sized European city. Science of the Total Environment, 728: 138843. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138843
Fraczek K, Ropek D, 2011. Municipal waste dumps as the microbiological threat to the natural environment. Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S, 18(1): 93–110.
Gao Y, Ge L, Shi S Z et al., 2019. Global trends and future prospects of e-waste research: a bibliometric analysis. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26(17): 17809–17820. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05071-8
Guerrero L A, Maas G, Hogland W, 2013. Solid waste management challenges for cities in developing countries. Waste Management, 33(1): 220–232. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2012.09.008
Harijani A M, Mansour S, Karimi B, 2017. A multi-objective model for sustainable recycling of municipal solid waste. Waste Management & Research, 35(4): 387–399. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X17693685
Hossain R, Islam M T, Ghose A et al., 2022. Full circle: challenges and prospects for plastic waste management in Australia to achieve circular economy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 368: 133127. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.133127
Iqbal A, Liu X M, Chen G H, 2020. Municipal solid waste: review of best practices in application of life cycle assessment and sustainable management techniques. Science of the Total Environment, 729: 138622. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138622
Kleinberg J, 2002. Bursty and hierarchical structure in streams. Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, 7(4): 373–397. doi: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024940629314
Knickmeyer D, 2020. Social factors influencing household waste separation: a literature review on good practices to improve the recycling performance of urban areas. Journal of Cleaner Production, 245: 118605. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118605
Korai M S, Mahar R B, Uqaili M A, 2017. The feasibility of municipal solid waste for energy generation and its existing management practices in pakistan. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 72: 338–353. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.01.051
Kuan S H, Low F S, Chieng S, 2022. Towards regional cooperation on sustainable plastic recycling: comparative analysis of plastic waste recycling policies and legislations in Japan and Malaysia. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 24(3): 761–777. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-021-02263-0
Kundariya N, Mohanty S S, Varjani S et al., 2021. A review on integrated approaches for municipal solid waste for environmental and economical relevance: monitoring tools, technologies, and strategic innovations. Bioresource Technology, 342: 125982. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125982
Ma J, Hipel K W, Hanson M L et al., 2018. An analysis of influencing factors on municipal solid waste source-separated collection behavior in Guilin, China by using the theory of planned behavior. Sustainable Cities and Society, 37: 336–343. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2017.11.037
Maalouf, A, Agamuthu P, 2023. Waste management evolution in the last five decades in developing countries: a review. Waste Management & Research, 9(41): 1420–1434. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X231160099
Malinauskaite R, Kazlauskas E, Saluchaite A, 2013. Influence of alkaline ionized water on soybean ‘DOTNUVOS RUDOJI’ growth. In: 6th International Scientific Conference. Akademija: Aleksandras Stulginskis University, 164–167.
Mesjaszlech A, 2021. Municipal urban waste management — challenges for Polish cities in an Era of circular resource management. Resources, 10(6): 55. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/resources10060055
Nemat B, Razzaghi M, Bolton K et al., 2019. The role of food packaging design in consumer recycling behavior: a literature review. Sustainability, 11(16): 4350. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164350
Pandyaswargo A H, Gamaralalage P J D, Liu C et al., 2019. Challenges and an implementation framework for sustainable municipal organic waste management using biogas technology in emerging Asian countries. Sustainability, 11(22). doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226331
Paz-Ferreiro J, Nieto A, Méndez A et al., 2018. Biochar from biosolids pyrolysis: a review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(5): 956. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15050956
Pedersen J T S, Manhice H, 2020. The hidden dynamics of household waste separation: an anthropological analysis of user commitment, barriers, and the gaps between a waste system and its users. Journal of Cleaner Production, 242(C): 116285–116285. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.03.281
Puig-Ventosa I, Sastre S S, 2017. An exploration into municipal waste charges for environmental management at local level: the case of Spain. Waste Management & Research, 35(11): 1159–1167. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242x17727067
Qi X, Fuller E, Wu Q et al., 2012. Laplacian centrality: a new centrality measure for weighted networks. Information Sciences, 194: 240–253. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2011.12.027
Rai R K, Bhattarai D, Neupane S, 2019. Designing solid waste collection strategy in small municipalities of developing countries using choice experiment. Journal of Urban Management, 8(3): 386–395. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jum.2018.12.008
Rosecký M, Šomplák R, Slavik J et al., 2021. Predictive modelling as a tool for effective municipal waste management policy at different territorial levels. Journal of Environmental Management, 291: 112584. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112584
Shi K, Zhou Y, Zhang Z, 2021. Mapping the research trends of household waste recycling: a bibliometric analysis. Sustainability, 13(11): 6029. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116029
Song N, Mclellan I, Liu W et al., 2021. The waste ban in China: what happened next? Assessing the impact of new policies on the waste management sector in China. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 45(4): 1117–1131. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-021-01101-y
Slavik J, Pavel J, 2013. Do the variable charges really increase the effectiveness and economy of waste management? A case study of the Czech Republic. Resources Conservation and Recycling, 70: 68–77. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2012.09.013
Stopka O, Stopkova M, Kampf R, 2019. Application of the operational research method to determine the optimum transport collection cycle of municipal waste in a predesignated urban area. Sustainability, 11(8): 2275. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082275
Teshome Y M, Habtu N G, Molla M B et al., 2023. Municipal solid wastes quantification and model forecasting. Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management, 9(2): 227–240. doi: https://doi.org/10.22034/gjesm.2023.02.04
Tuomela M, Vikman M, Hatakka A et al., 2000. Biodegradation of lignin in a compost environment: a review. Bioresourse Technology, 72(2): 169–183. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/09600-5244(99)00104-2
UADESA (New York, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs), 2013. Population and Development Review. 41: 555. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2015.00081.x
UADESA (New York, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs), 2017. World Population Prospects The 2017 Revision Key Findings and Advance Tables. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004
Wienchol P, Korus A, Szlęk A et al., 2022. Thermogravimetric and kinetic study of thermal degradation of various types of municipal solid waste (MSW) under N2, CO2 and oxy-fuel conditions. Energy, 248: 123573. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2022.123573
Wu P, Wang Z Y, Wang H L et al., 2020. Visualizing the emerging trends of biochar research and applications in 2019: A scientometric analysis and review. Biochar, 2(2): 135–150. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42773-020-00055-1
Yu D J, Xu Z S, Pedrycz W et al., 2017. Information sciences 1968–2016: a retrospective analysis with text mining and bibliometric. InformationSciences, 418–419: 619–634. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2017.08.031
Yu D J, Xu C, 2017. Mapping research on carbon emissions trading: A co-citation analysis. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 74: 1314–1322. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.144
Zhang C L, Xu T, Feng H L et al., 2019. Greenhouse gas emissions from landfills: a review and bibliometric analysis. Sustainability, 11(8): 2282. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082282
Zhou A, Wu S, Chu Z et al., 2019. Regional differences in municipal solid waste collection quantities in china. Sustainability, 11(15): 4113. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154113
Zitouni-Petrogianni A, Voutsas E, 2021. Modeling, optimization and cost analysis of municipal solid waste treatment with plasma gasification. Environmental Processes, 8(2): 747–767. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-021-00518-y
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. ZHANG Yuxin was responsible for data processing, generating graphs, and manuscript writing and editing. LIU Xiaoqian provided funding, guidance for research framework, and direction for paper writing. YAN Xiaoxia was in charge of data processing and keyword clustering. MA Sike handled data collection and graph processing. MAO Weiyun was responsible for data processing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
Additional information
Foundation item: Under the auspices of the General Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42271112), General Research Project of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education Science (No. KM202011417008)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, Y., Liu, X., Yan, X. et al. Global Research Progress on Municipal Waste and Future Prospect Based on the Cross-national Comparisons. Chin. Geogr. Sci. 34, 250–264 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-023-1396-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-023-1396-3