Digital Technologies Enabling Smart Circular Waste Management: A Systematic Literature Review

This study aims to identify and classify the technologies used across the waste-management lifecycle, qualitatively synthesize the types of operational and circularity-related outcomes reported in the literature, and examine the technical challenges and research gaps that must be addressed to develop interoperable, scalable, secure, and empirically validated systems. The study used a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 framework. The study identified Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, blockchain, cloud and edge computing, digital twins, big-data analytics, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Global Positioning System (GPS), and additive manufacturing as the primary enabling technologies. These technologies enable sensing, monitoring, waste classification, forecasting, route optimization, traceability, simulation, automated sorting, and resource recovery. Across the included studies, the most frequently reported outcome categories included reduced bin overflow, improved collection and route efficiency, lower operational costs and vehicle-related emissions, enhanced waste segregation and recycling, and greater material-flow transparency. Because the studies used heterogeneous technologies, settings, scales, and evaluation metrics, these outcomes were synthesized qualitatively rather than pooled into a single quantitative estimate. Smart circular waste management depends on an integrated digital eco-system and is not dependent on individual technologies.

@article{Sukmasetya2026,
  title     = {Digital Technologies Enabling Smart Circular Waste Management: A Systematic Literature Review},
  journal   = {International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications},
  volume    = {17},
  number    = {7},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {The Science and Information Organization},
  author    = {Pristi Sukmasetya and Harry Budi Santoso and Zainal Arifin Hasibuan and Yun Arifatul Fatimah},
  doi       = {10.14569/IJACSA.2026.0170758},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2026.0170758}
}