Unveiling characteristics and trend of zero waste research: a scientometric perspective

Solid waste generation has been significantly accelerated by the rapid growth of economy and population worldwide. The traditional waste management focusing on waste utilization and disposal is unable to unravel the continuous depletion of finite natural resources. “Zero waste” as an integrated waste management method to promote waste reduction through a pack of strategies such as cleaner production and green consumption has emerged. Here, we systematically reviewed the researches on zero waste from a scientometric perspective, and visually unveiled the most productive countries, evolution process, main authors, major research areas, and documents of zero waste research domain. The results show that with increased publications, zero waste has become a multidisciplinary study area and food waste reduction is the biggest sub-network in zero waste research. The current research frontiers are mainly regarding “lean production,” “consumer behavior,” “productivity.” Accordingly, this study proposed a pathway for realizing zero waste cities with three lanes: (1) research and development, (2) management method, and (3) policy and implementation. The findings are also expected to be beneficial to latecomer researches in the waste management field.