Desafíos y oportunidades en la gestión de residuos hacia una economía circular; una revisión del estado del arte hacia la comparación del desempeño de américa latina y el caribe (ALC) y la unión europea (UE)

Abstract

The circular economy (EC) is currently a viable option for countries, governments, academia and society to convert flows of materials and energy into circular flows and obtain better sustainable benefits. A significant tool is life cycle analysis (LCA) which contributes to the transition to CD. Therefore, in this article, the evolution of scientific knowledge of the circular economy (EC) in the Latin American context (LAC) will be analyzed taking into account as a theoretical reference, the European Union (EU) through bibliometric analysis, and network . The purpose of this review is to deepen the evolution of the field of scientific research in CD and LCA, through a bibliometric and network analysis using the Web of Science database that provides new ideas about the evolution of the field. of research given its increasing coverage of issues related to sustainability. In a first step, a current situational analysis of CD and stroke in the EU and LAC is identified and carried out, followed by an analysis of 490 published studies and bibliometrics is used to provide a description in this field of research. A second stage involves the analysis of networks to identify influential authors, relevant publications, monitoring the bibliometric characteristics of the key research terms, their coincidences, authorship of publication (co) at various levels (author, organization, city, region , country), thematic magazines and bibliographic citations. Findings of co-authorship, citation, co-occurrence, and network analysis indicate that the UK, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, China, Sweden, and Germany have the most published EC literature. The main themes emerging in the joint EC literature between the EU and LAC are; life cycle assessment, food waste, solid waste, indicators; resource efficiency. It is concluded that there is good potential for international cooperation in the construction and demolition sectors, new business models, product and service platforms, and it was also identified that magazines such as; Sustainability, and cleaner production and resource conservation and recycling are the most important means for publications on CE and also for joint publications of CE researchers in LAC and EU-28 .