Reverse Logistics of Solid Waste: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Contemporary society has increasingly higher levels of consumption as a result of the emergence of new technologies that generate more and more waste, whether residues from the production process or post-consumption residues. This new scale of disposability is responsible for the increase in the production of waste and, consequently, for many of the environmental problems that exist today. This study aims to identify bibliometric characteristics of publications of scientific articles in the Scopus database between the years 2009 and 2017. First, an analysis of the data related to the term “Reverse Logistics” was carried out, then the same type of analysis was performed of the data related to the term “Solid Waste” and finally the joint analysis of the two terms. The results are presented in two categories: the global assessment presents the global view of publications on the topics; the evolution of production; the comparison of national production with other countries; and the classification by university, area of study; periodicals and key words. The national assessment shows the evolution of production; the classification by university, journals, keywords and the researchers with the largest number of publications. The study determined that the number of published articles is expanding significantly, with emphasis on United States, China and Brazil. Brazil is highlighted in multidisciplinary studies in which reverse logistics and solid waste appear together as an object of research.