Title: Waste to wealth for single-use plastics: a literature review and future research agenda

Authors: Ankita Gupta; Dinesh Kumar; Mathiyazhagan Kaliyan; Doreswamy

Addresses: Department of Humanities Social Sciences and Management, National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, India ' Department of Production and Industrial Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, India ' Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India ' Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IISER-Tirupati, India

Abstract: This paper presents a systematic literature review with bibliometric and content analysis of 336 articles selected through PRISMA from the Scopus and Web of Science databases during 2015-2025. The bibliometric analysis identified research trends, the most important authors, journals, affiliations, countries, the dynamic evolution of hot themes, co-occurrence of keywords, and the co-citation network as a result of content analysis of the top five clusters of the co-citation network, which focus on different research areas, including: theoretical development of circular economy in plastics, environmental impact of plastic waste, and microplastic impact on health. Further, we identify key enablers such as green credit policy, public awareness, personal past behaviour associated with recycling, reverse logistics, sourcing, segregation, collection, and recovery efficiency, and develop an integrated framework for a circular economy strategy for single-use plastics. These findings are beneficial to industrialists, environmentalists, policymakers, and society and suggest a comprehensive roadmap for transitioning to a circular plastic economy and future research directions.

Keywords: circular economy; single-use plastic waste; bibliometrics; sustainability; enablers; strategy.

DOI: 10.1504/IER.2026.155618

Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 2026 Vol.25 No.3, pp.259 - 292

Received: 01 Dec 2025
Accepted: 26 Feb 2026
Published online: 07 Aug 2026 *

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