Waste-to-Energy: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

This study presents a bibliometric analysis of waste-to-energy (WtE) research to map its intellectual structure, thematic evolution, influential works, and collaboration patterns. A total of 2,513 Scopus-indexed documents published between 2000 and 2026 were retrieved and analyzed with VOSviewer through keyword co-occurrence (network, overlay, and density visualizations), citation analysis, and co-authorship analysis at the author, institution, and country levels. The keyword network reveals five interconnected clusters: thermal conversion and plant energy performance, waste management systems and incineration residues, bioenergy and circular economy, technology selection and decision making, and life cycle and climate impacts. The overlay map shows a shift from boiler, heat recovery, and disposal-oriented studies toward renewable energy, anaerobic digestion, circular economy, life cycle assessment, and decision-support research, while the density map confirms that incineration-based WtE and waste management remain the dominant research core. The most cited documents are reviews on municipal solid waste management, circular economy, incineration, and food waste bioconversion. Co-authorship networks are organized into several cohesive but weakly connected groups, with Themelis as the most prominent author, and the United States, China, and India acting as the main country hubs, alongside a visible contribution from Indonesia and other emerging economies. The findings indicate a transition of WtE research from plant-level engineering toward integrated, sustainability-oriented, and policy-relevant investigations.