ELECTRONIC WASTE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH FRONTS AND EMERGING DIRECTIONS: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

The rapid rise in electronic waste (e-waste) generation has arise as a major global environmental and sustainability issue, driven by inadequate management, recycling, as well as disposal of electronic and electrical equipment. As global consumption of digital devices continues to rise, research on e-waste management has expanded substantially; however, the field remains fragmented, with a limited understanding of its knowledge structure, evolution, and emerging research directions. This study aims to chart and analyze worldwide research trends, influential authors, countries, as well as thematic developments in e-waste management through a bibliometric approach. Data were collected from the Scopus database employing the advanced search string TITLE ("electronic waste" OR "e-waste" OR "WEEE" AND "management"), limited to English-language publications between 2020 and 2025. The final refined dataset comprised 598 articles, which served as the foundation for analysis. The Scopus Analyzer was employed to extract and visualize statistical patterns such as annual publication growth, authorship distribution, and country contributions. OpenRefine was utilized to clean and harmonize bibliographic data, ensuring consistency and accuracy, while VOSviewer software was used to perform network visualizations of co-authorship, keyword co-occurrence, and citation linkages. The results revealed a sharp increase in research output after 2020, with India, China, and the United States emerging as leading contributors. Frequently occurring keywords included electronic waste, recycling, sustainable development, circular economy, and environmental management, indicating strong alignment with sustainability and policy-oriented research. The visualization maps further identified six major research clusters encompassing technological innovation, environmental health, policy implementation, and circular resource recovery. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive overview of global research dynamics in e-waste management, offering valuable insights into current research fronts and emerging directions that can inform future policy, industry practice, and academic collaboration.