**Background:** Waste management is a central challenge in transitioning from a linear 'take-make-dispose' economy to a circular one. Circular economy (CE) principles—recycling, reusing, remanufacturing—can help achieve the 2030 Agenda's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While interest in circular waste management research is growing, a comprehensive state-of-the-art analysis linking research trends to specific SDG targets was lacking. This study aims to fill that gap by providing a bibliometric analysis and proposing a research agenda.
**Methods:** The study used a three-phase methodology. Phase 1: Data collection from the Web of Science Core Collection (2009 to September 2021) using keywords 'circular economy' and 'waste management', yielding 576 articles after filtering. Phase 2: Bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer (co-occurrence, citation analysis) and SciMat (strategic diagrams, evolution maps) software. Co-occurrence analysis used a minimum threshold of 13 occurrences from 2,868 keywords, resulting in 41 keywords across four clusters. SciMat analysis divided the sample into three periods: Period 1 (2009–2019, 214 articles), Period 2 (2020, 155 articles), and Period 3 (2021, 189 articles), with a minimum of 10 associated documents per keyword (77 words total). Phase 3: Systematic literature review of 51 core documents from SciMat's motor themes in Period 3, with in-depth analysis of the 20 most cited articles.
**Key Results:** Publication volume increased markedly after 2015, coinciding with the 2030 Agenda. The Journal of Cleaner Production was the most influential source (79 articles, 1,343 citations). The most prolific author was Navarro Ferronato (University of Insubria, Italy) with 9 papers. Four clusters emerged from co-occurrence analysis: (1) 'Industrial ecology and more sustainable infrastructure' (SDG 9), (2) 'Waste management through biological and assessment processes' (SDGs 6, 7, 11, 12), (3) 'Sustainable development and recycling in developing countries' (SDG 12), and (4) 'New procedures for the recovery of resources' (SDG 12). SciMat's strategic diagram for Period 3 identified motor themes ('circular economy', 'life cycle assessment', 'China'), basic themes ('recovery'), emerging themes ('generation', 'plastic waste'), and isolated themes ('sector'). The most cited article (Vanapalli et al. 2021, 72 citations) addressed COVID-19 plastic waste reduction. Key findings from the 20 most cited articles include: chemical recycling via pyrolysis has lower climate change impacts than energy recovery (Jeswani et al. 2021); Italian plastic packaging shows positive recycling rates but landfill levels need improvement (Lombardi et al. 2021); and developing countries require improved circular practices (Abou Taleb and Al Farooque 2021).
**Clinical Implications:** This is not a clinical study. The paper has implications for public health and environmental policy. Circular waste management can reduce pollution-related illness (SDG 3), improve water quality (SDG 6), and promote sustainable consumption (SDG 12). The research agenda proposes four directions: (1) new trends in plastic waste management, (2) circular municipal waste management with consumer-industry cooperation, (3) sustainable landfill management through waste-to-energy, pyrolysis, and Industry 4.0 technologies, and (4) establishment of measurement indicators and legislative frameworks. The study notes that no research on wastewater recycling (SDG 6) was found among the most cited articles, and social science perspectives are underrepresented.