Agricultural and Municipal Biowaste Within the Circular Economy Framework: A Bibliometric Analysis

Ginevra Giacomello, Niccolò Leonardi, Davide Assandri () and Niccolò Pampuro
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Ginevra Giacomello: Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
Niccolò Leonardi: Institute of Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Energy and Mobility (STEMS), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Turin, Italy
Davide Assandri: Institute of Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Energy and Mobility (STEMS), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Turin, Italy
Niccolò Pampuro: Institute of Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Energy and Mobility (STEMS), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Turin, Italy

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-26

Abstract: Municipal and agricultural biowaste are a significant portion of the global waste stream and represent an environmental challenge that must be addressed sustainably. The literature on the topic has increased dramatically, and a bibliometric analysis is a necessary guide through this ever-growing production. This study gives an objective overview of the state of the art and topic evolution of biowaste within sustainability/circular economy frameworks. This bibliometric analysis serves as a starting point for further qualitative research, while offering opportunities for future collaborations. Two parallel searches were conducted in Scopus, agri-food/agricultural (2391 papers) and municipal (264 papers) biowaste within sustainability/circular economy concepts, and analyzed with VosViewer (version 1.6.20.0) and Excel (version 1808). This review analyzes the following: annual scientific production and countries involved, showing the US and Italy as leaders on both topics; most productive authors (only 0.2% wrote at least five papers) and affiliations and underlying international, even if static, collaborations; most influential publications and sources ( Science of the Total Environment, Journal of Cleaner Production, Sustainability ); evolution of keywords over time; and strengths and limitations of the bibliometric approach. It also highlights the potential for future research and collaboration. Furthermore, it underlines waste management’s evolution from a sustainable point of view towards a circular economy approach and differences between municipal and agricultural biowaste scientific production.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis; circular economy; sustainability; municipal biowaste; food waste; agricultural waste (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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