IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/proeco/v290y2025ics0925527325002725.html

Achieving sustainable development by integrating circular economy principles into solid waste management: A systematic literature review and research agenda

Author

Listed:
  • Monfared, Marzieh
  • Marandi, Fateme
  • Sauer, Philipp C.

Abstract

This study analyses the role of the circular economy (CE) and solid waste management (SWM) in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and establishes links to address challenges such as environmental degradation, resource depletion, and social inequality. Uncontrolled waste impacts the social, environmental, and economic well-being of households, communities, and businesses worldwide. Yet, a comprehensive review of how the integration of the CE into SWM can address the SDGs is still missing.

Suggested Citation

  • Monfared, Marzieh & Marandi, Fateme & Sauer, Philipp C., 2025. "Achieving sustainable development by integrating circular economy principles into solid waste management: A systematic literature review and research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:290:y:2025:i:c:s0925527325002725
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2025.109787
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527325002725
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijpe.2025.109787?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dieste, Marcos & Sauer, Philipp C. & Orzes, Guido, 2022. "Organizational tensions in industry 4.0 implementation: A paradox theory approach," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    2. Agarwal, Vernika & Malhotra, Snigdha & Dagar, Vishal & M. R, Pavithra, 2023. "Coping with public-private partnership issues: A path forward to sustainable agriculture," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    3. Dey, Prasanta Kumar & Malesios, Chrysovalantis & Chowdhury, Soumyadeb & Saha, Krishnendu & Budhwar, Pawan & De, Debashree, 2022. "Adoption of circular economy practices in small and medium-sized enterprises: Evidence from Europe," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    4. Krishna Kumar Dadsena & Pushpesh Pant, 2023. "Analyzing the barriers in supply chain digitization: sustainable development goals perspective," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1684-1697, December.
    5. Meetha Ram & Enrico Bracci, 2024. "Waste Management, Waste Indicators and the Relationship with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-17, September.
    6. Philipp C. Sauer & Stefan Seuring, 2023. "How to conduct systematic literature reviews in management research: a guide in 6 steps and 14 decisions," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(5), pages 1899-1933, July.
    7. Asif Iqbal & Abdullah Yasar & Amtul Bari Tabinda & Rafia Haider & Imran Ali Sultan & Aman Anwer Kedwii & Muhammad Murtaza Chaudhary & Muhammad Minhaj Sheikh & Abdul-Sattar Nizami, 2023. "Waste as Resource for Pakistan: An Innovative Business Model of Regenerative Circular Economy to Integrate Municipal Solid Waste Management Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-29, April.
    8. Minner, Stefan, 2001. "Strategic safety stocks in reverse logistics supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1-3), pages 417-428, May.
    9. Bag, Surajit & Gupta, Shivam & Kumar, Sameer, 2021. "Industry 4.0 adoption and 10R advance manufacturing capabilities for sustainable development," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    10. Li, Xinfei & Yu, Chang & Wang, Zhaohua & Tao, Chenlu & Li, Hao & Diao, Gang & Cheng, Baodong, 2025. "Implications of China's foreign waste ban on the global waste paper trade networks for circular economy and sustainability," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    11. Abdulaziz I. Almulhim, 2024. "Toward a Greener Future: Applying Circular Economy Principles to Saudi Arabia’s Food Sector for Environmental Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-22, January.
    12. Bai, Chunguang & Dallasega, Patrick & Orzes, Guido & Sarkis, Joseph, 2020. "Industry 4.0 technologies assessment: A sustainability perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    13. Giovanni Vinti & Valerie Bauza & Thomas Clasen & Kate Medlicott & Terry Tudor & Christian Zurbrügg & Mentore Vaccari, 2021. "Municipal Solid Waste Management and Adverse Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-26, April.
    14. Ajay Singh, 2022. "Sustainable Waste Management Through Systems Engineering Models and Remote Sensing Approaches," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 1105-1126, September.
    15. Emilia Vann Yaroson & Soumyadeb Chowdhury & Sachin Kumar Mangla & Prasanta Dey & Felix T. S. Chan & Melanie Roux, 2024. "A systematic literature review exploring and linking circular economy and sustainable development goals in the past three decades (1991–2022)," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(4), pages 1399-1433, February.
    16. Florin-Constantin Mihai & Sedat Gündoğdu & Laura A. Markley & Arianna Olivelli & Farhan R. Khan & Claire Gwinnett & Jutta Gutberlet & Natalia Reyna-Bensusan & Paula Llanquileo-Melgarejo & Christia Mei, 2021. "Plastic Pollution, Waste Management Issues, and Circular Economy Opportunities in Rural Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-48, December.
    17. Chowdhury, Naimur Rahman & Paul, Sanjoy Kumar & Sarker, Tapan & Shi, Yangyan, 2023. "Implementing smart waste management system for a sustainable circular economy in the textile industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    18. Julie Ann Stuart & Jane C. Ammons & Laura J. Turbini, 1999. "A Product and Process Selection Model with Multidisciplinary Environmental Considerations," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 47(2), pages 221-234, April.
    19. Oluwatobi Owojori & Joshua N. Edokpayi & Ratshalingwa Mulaudzi & John O. Odiyo, 2020. "Characterisation, Recovery and Recycling Potential of Solid Waste in a University of a Developing Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-17, June.
    20. Do, Quynh & Ramudhin, Amar & Colicchia, Claudia & Creazza, Alessandro & Li, Dong, 2021. "A systematic review of research on food loss and waste prevention and management for the circular economy," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    21. Centobelli, Piera & Cerchione, Roberto & Esposito, Emilio & Passaro, Renato & Shashi,, 2021. "Determinants of the transition towards circular economy in SMEs: A sustainable supply chain management perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    22. Bella Belerivana Nujen & Nina Pereira Kvadsheim & Deodat Mwesiumo & Eivind Reke & Daryl Powell, 2023. "Knowledge obstacles when transitioning towards circular economy: an industrial intra-organisational perspective," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(24), pages 8618-8633, December.
    23. Raoul Voss & Roh Pin Lee & Magnus Fröhling, 2023. "A consequential approach to life cycle sustainability assessment with an agent‐based model to determine the potential contribution of chemical recycling to UN Sustainable Development Goals," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(3), pages 726-745, June.
    24. Martha María Mayes-Ramírez & Francisco Jesús Gálvez-Sánchez & Ángel Fermín Ramos-Ridao & Valentín Molina-Moreno, 2023. "Urban Waste: Visualizing the Academic Literature through Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-24, January.
    25. Zerbino, Pierluigi & Stefanini, Alessandro & Aloini, Davide & Dulmin, Riccardo & Mininno, Valeria, 2021. "Curling linearity into circularity: The benefits of formal scavenging in closed-loop settings," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    26. Kannan Govindan, 2022. "Tunneling the barriers of blockchain technology in remanufacturing for achieving sustainable development goals: A circular manufacturing perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(8), pages 3769-3785, December.
    27. Wang, Jason X. & Burke, Haydn & Zhang, Abraham, 2022. "Overcoming barriers to circular product design," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    28. Govindan, Kannan & Salehian, Farhad & Kian, Hadi & Hosseini, Seyed Teimoor & Mina, Hassan, 2023. "A location-inventory-routing problem to design a circular closed-loop supply chain network with carbon tax policy for achieving circular economy: An augmented epsilon-constraint approach," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    29. Takunda Shabani & Steven Jerie & Tapiwa Shabani, 2023. "Applicability of the Life Cycle Assessment Model in Solid Waste Management in Zimbabwe," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 2233-2253, December.
    30. Luciano Ferreira da Silva & Maria Helena Costa Resnitzkyd & Ernesto Del Rosario Santibanez Gonzalez & Diego de Melo Conti & Priscila Rezende da Costa, 2022. "Management of Plastic Waste and a Circular Economy at the End of the Supply Chain: A Systematic Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-15, January.
    31. Navarro Ferronato & Rodolfo Pasinetti & Daysi Valencia Vargas & Iris Jabneel Calle Mendoza & Edith Gabriela Guisbert Lizarazu & Marcelo Antonio Gorritty Portillo & Fabio Conti & Vincenzo Torretta, 2022. "Circular Economy, International Cooperation, and Solid Waste Management: A Development Project in La Paz (Bolivia)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-22, January.
    32. Emilio Abad-Segura & Ana Batlles de la Fuente & Mariana-Daniela González-Zamar & Luis Jesús Belmonte-Ureña, 2020. "Effects of Circular Economy Policies on the Environment and Sustainable Growth: Worldwide Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-27, July.
    33. Govindan, Kannan & Shankar, K. Madan & Kannan, Devika, 2020. "Achieving sustainable development goals through identifying and analyzing barriers to industrial sharing economy: A framework development," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ahmad, Farhan & Bask, Anu & Laari, Sini & Robinson, Craig V., 2023. "Business management perspectives on the circular economy: Present state and future directions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    2. Allan Dênisson Soares Silva & Wesley Vieira Silva & Luciana Santos Costa Vieira Silva & Nicholas Joseph Tavares Cruz & Zhaohui Su & Claudimar Pereira Veiga, 2025. "Interdependence between supply chains and sustainable development: global insights from a systematic review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 931-962, March.
    3. Ren, Yu & Wu, Kuo-Jui & Lim, Ming K. & Tseng, Ming-Lang, 2023. "Technology transfer adoption to achieve a circular economy model under resource-based view: A high-tech firm," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    4. Asif Iqbal & Abdullah Yasar & Abdul-Sattar Nizami & Rafia Haider & Faiza Sharif & Imran Ali Sultan & Amtul Bari Tabinda & Aman Anwer Kedwaii & Muhammad Murtaza Chaudhary, 2022. "Municipal Solid Waste Collection and Haulage Modeling Design for Lahore, Pakistan: Transition toward Sustainability and Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-39, December.
    5. Devika Kannan & Parvaneh Gholipour & Chunguang Bai, 2023. "Smart manufacturing as a strategic tool to mitigate sustainable manufacturing challenges: a case approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 331(1), pages 543-579, December.
    6. Sakha Gangadhara Rama Rao & Kolli Srinivasa Rao & U. V. Adinarayana Rao & Subhodeep Mukherjee & Anthony Bagherian, 2025. "Exploring Sustainability in Production, Operations, and Consumption: A Bibliometric Analysis of Trends and Future Prospects," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 5(5), pages 4297-4324, October.
    7. Govindan, Kannan & Naieni Fard, Fereshteh Sadeghi & Asgari, Fahimeh & Sorooshian, Shahryar & Mina, Hassan, 2024. "A Bi-objective location-routing model for the healthcare waste management in the era of logistics 4.0 under uncertainty," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    8. Carlos Fernando Gonzales-Ortiz & Apolonia Rodríguez-Gonzales & Katja Radon & María Teresa Solís-Soto, 2025. "Development of a Project to Strengthen Environmental Education in Educational Institutions in Bolivia: “Environmental Care with a One Health Approach”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-13, April.
    9. Liu, Yanping & Farooque, Muhammad & Lee, Chang-Hun & Gong, Yu & Zhang, Abraham, 2023. "Antecedents of circular manufacturing and its effect on environmental and financial performance: A practice-based view," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    10. Chowdhury, Soumyadeb & Ren, Shuang & Richey, Robert Glenn, 2025. "Leveraging artificial intelligence to facilitate green servitization: Resource orchestration and Re-institutionalization perspectives," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    11. Noelia Garcia‐Buendia & Miguel Núñez‐Merino & José Moyano‐Fuentes & Juan Manuel Maqueira‐Marín, 2024. "Squaring circular supply chain management: A comprehensive overview of emerging themes and trends," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 8190-8210, December.
    12. Seelent, João Felipe Capioto & Lermen, Fernando Henrique & Franco, Cíntia Wilke & Benitez, Guilherme Brittes, 2025. "Managing paradoxical tensions between Corporate Social Responsibility and Automation: How organizations reach sustainability and digital transformation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    13. Monshizadeh, Fatemeh & Sadeghi Moghadam, Mohammad Reza & Mansouri, Taha & Kumar, Maneesh, 2023. "Developing an industry 4.0 readiness model using fuzzy cognitive maps approach," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    14. Ramin Bashir Khodaparasti & Hooshmand Bagheri Garabollagh, 2023. "Examining Circular Economy Practices and Sustainability Performance in Knowledge-Based Companies in Iran," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 25(62), pages 196-196, February.
    15. Govindan, Kannan, 2023. "Pathways to low carbon energy transition through multi criteria assessment of offshore wind energy barriers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    16. Belhadi, Amine & Kamble, Sachin S. & Chiappetta Jabbour, Charbel Jose & Mani, Venkatesh & Khan, Syed Abdul Rehman & Touriki, Fatima Ezahra, 2022. "A self-assessment tool for evaluating the integration of circular economy and industry 4.0 principles in closed-loop supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    17. Lai, Kee-hung & Feng, Yunting & Zhu, Qinghua, 2023. "Digital transformation for green supply chain innovation in manufacturing operations," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    18. Emilia Vann Yaroson & Soumyadeb Chowdhury & Sachin Kumar Mangla & Prasanta Kumar Dey, 2024. "Unearthing the interplay between organisational resources, knowledge and industry 4.0 analytical decision support tools to achieve sustainability and supply chain wellbeing," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 342(2), pages 1321-1368, November.
    19. Kordi, Mehrdad & Ertz, Myriam, 2026. "Deciphering technological advancements for efficient disaster management and community resilience," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    20. Feng, Jianghong & Guo, Ping & Xu, Guangyi & Xu, Gangyan & Ning, Yu, 2024. "An integrated decision framework for resilient sustainable waste electric vehicle battery recycling transfer station site selection," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 373(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:290:y:2025:i:c:s0925527325002725. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.