How crucial is it for the municipal waste governance to comprehend citizens' views regarding waste separation? A bibliometric review

How crucial is it for the municipal waste governance to comprehend citizens' views regarding waste separation? 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A bibliometric review Jean Pierre Doussoulin, Benoit Mougenot, Franz Carrillo This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7375956/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract One of the most important and complex issues in sustainability and waste management is individuals' perceptions of government. Municipalities, local governments, international organizations, and academic institutions have all initiated initiatives to improve citizens' opinions of governance. This motivates us to conduct a bibliometric analysis of hypothesized planned behavior from 2020 to 2023 to see which variables influence perceptions of municipal governance. This study employs Biblioshiny, an online interface for Bibliometrix analysis, to do a computer analysis using the R package. This method offers a suitable alternative to typical bibliometric analysis for researching theory and planned behavior literature. This is one of the first studies to employ a computer approach to investigate the literary routes of theory-planned conduct in municipal material. Our paper indicates that the theory planned behavior principles have a strong potential to handle these connected issues with municipal waste management performance. Theory planned behavior recycling municipal and bibliometric analysis Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 1. Introduction It is well known that the complexity of the environmental problems of urban metabolism must be approached from a transdisciplinary perspective (Keskin & Mengüç, 2018; Max-Neef, 2005). This view has to include not only the economic and technical issues of the environmental sciences but also the user's view on a human and municipal scale. Studying the intentions, attitudes, behavior control that influence these environmental behaviors (Ma et al., 2018). Knowing which of these three components is most relevant at a territorial or municipal scale allows focusing public policy efforts on a specific socio-economic group. The objective of this study is to analyze how relevant municipal waste management is within the studies comprising the theory of planned behavior (TPB). We can notice that within the objective of this article, the word “municipal” is included. Several of the studies that use the TPB method to study environmental behavior, such as Wang et al., (2021), mention the word “municipal” in their titles, but it is not included in the variables studied and that affect behavior. This seems curious to us and therefore we believe that we need to study in more depth why the word municipal is not included, taking into account that it is the municipality that generally in the cities carries out the waste management and is directly related to the behavior of the citizens. The novelty of this work is precisely to fill this gap in the literature by exploring how present in the discussion of environmental studies is the discussion of environmental behavior such as recycling at the municipal scale. As Si et al., (2019) argues in a bibliometric paper that in recent years there has been a growing interest in the study of topics such as environmental studies like recycling and waste separation at source in the scholar, considering that the TPB was not developed since its genesis on issues related to sustainability but was dedicated to study issues closer to psychology. This is reaffirmed if we use as an example what is shown in figure 9 of Si et al., (2019)'s article. In this figure within the main topics, we can find waste management and as subtopics recycling and separation. This motivates us to use these words in our bibliometric search ( see figure 3). This paper considers an extensive bibliometric examination utilizing Biblioshiny, a web interface for bibliometrix examination based on R programming (Gagolewski, 2011; Mougenot & Doussoulin, 2021; Ravanal et al., 2024). This specific approach has allowed us to provide options for the standardization of citation counts in the context of research evaluation in future research areas, as well as to make broad statements about the accuracy of citation analyses. In addition, it makes it possible to support academic research on some very relevant topics, such as urban waste management. It is feasible to find out the historical foundations of fields of study or crucial works for a field by examining references, which advances science (Ninkov et al., 2022). The increasing concerns about waste management validates the need for more feasible structures that prioritize sustainability and environmental well-being of citizens. The study looks at academic productivity published in journals indexed in the Scopus database between 2000 and 2020 using a bibliometric analysis approach in a municipal context. The investigation aims to comprehend the mechanisms underlying the rise in productivity related to the body of knowledge. It is widely accepted that two of the most prominent and significant databases in the world are Scopus and the Web of Science. These two databases, which are now useful resources for bibliometric analysis, cover published papers as well as citation databases across all scientific domains (Chadegani et al., 2013). Scopus offers 20% more coverage than the Web of Science, according to Vieira & Gomes, (2009). Consequently, the study's literature was retrieved from Scopus. Studies using bibliometrics have been conducted to assess how well the notion of planned behavior works in the environmental sciences (Si et al., 2019). Shi et al., (2021) uses bibliometrics to study the relationship between TPB and recycling and concludes that most of these studies are based on China, highlighting also the cooperation existing between China, the US and Europe. According to Phulwani et al., (2020), which uses bibliometrics to study recycling behavior, Stewart Barr was the most influential author and Resources, Conservation and Recycling was the publication with the largest contribution with 105 articles. Concari et al., (2022) investigate the ways in which the research of recycling behavior has been developed, as well as the primary topics of interest and potential gaps in literature. Although there is a consistent body of bibliometric studies examining the use of TPB on recycling and circular economy (Si et al., 2019), the addition of important variables such as governance and public policies has not been yet addressed, particularly municipal governance. This study is structured as follows. The Background section shows a bibliometric investigation of writings evaluated by specialists on the topic. Section three recognizes associations and public joint coordinated efforts, with perhaps the most outstanding model being that the TPB and municipal governance thought has been dissected from an assortment of sensible viewpoints. Part 4 finishes with a list of future course inquiry. 2. Background 2.1 Environmental science and governance towards TPB Environmental science is an interdisciplinary discipline that studies the interactions between living beings, including humans, and their environment, including more recently current issues such as technology and artificial intelligence (Shuford, 2024). It aims to understand and address environmental problems, as well as to promote environmental sustainability and conservation (Allaby, 2002; Chiras, 2009). Given its interdisciplinary and holistic approach, environmental science has also taken a political approach to respond to the problems of local communities. This is mentioned by O’Riordan, (2004) as follows. “Environmental science has become highly political, and geographers need to recognize and work within an expanding political process. Examples of new forms of governing via sustainability science for sustainable futures…..at local government level”(O’Riordan, 2004). As mentioned in Figure 1, one of the key issues in environmental sciences is sustainable development. Jordan, (2008) mentions that a growing number of studies link sustainable development and governance. According to Hooghe & Marks, (2001), the governance process considers all governmental levels as well as any additional territorial agreements that may come to light during the decision-making process, decentralizing formal authority both upwards and downwards. In the debate of governance, one perspective highlights the shifting articulation patterns that occur at the territorial or subnational level. It is defined as "potentially a space for the consolidation of pluralistic, open, and inclusive networks, through the multilevel and horizontal participation as two key drivers for the deepening of democracy encouraging the formation of local and regional administrations as well as the articulation of multilevel networks as essential components of territorial leadership (Delamaza et al., 2015; Menocal & Eade, 2004). The complexity of waste governance challenges at the national level has increased over the past few decades (Abreu et al., 2024). Growing waste production, problems with waste governance, sustainability, and social and environmental conscience are major drivers of institutional reform in municipalities and other institutions towards improved public policies on waste governance. Still, there are several pragmatic and waste-related considerations that impact institutions as well as citizens. In recent decades, waste governance has become more complex at the municipal level. This institutions are implementing better public policies to address waste production, governance issues, sustainability, and social environmental conscience (Yang et al., 2024). However, practical and waste-related factors also play a role. To improve this governance, a few efforts from educational institutions, international organizations, local governments, and municipalities have emerged (Yang et al., 2024). This suggests that a bibliometric analysis could assist in determining how governance affects waste management. It is possible to perform governance at several levels, including central state, regional, and municipal government. Because the TPB evaluates residents' behavior, the municipality represents the state closest to them, which is why we chose the municipal level as the study's emphasis. By undertaking waste separation at the source in order to use and recycle the municipal solid waste that households generate, several developed economies (such as Germany, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, and the USA) have accomplished a sustainable waste management (Knickmeyer, 2020). Concern over researching waste separation intention and other psychological aspects influencing the implementation of circular economy concepts in low- and middle-income nations is growing (Oduro-Appiah et al., 2022). Part of this concern of the government and municipality to know how to improve the intention to recycle or separate at the source, can be explored through a method that uses surveys and a process of data analysis using multivariate regression or structural equations that have been defined as Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB. TPB has undergone multiple revisions following the fundamental Ajzen (1991) and Ajzen & Fishbein (1977) essays. Conner & Armitage, (1998) conducted a review without utilizing bibliometric tools, concluding after a thorough literature analysis that TPB can support the design of effective interventions that generate behavioral changes by describing the purpose that drives the decision. 2.1 Theory of planned behavior and people’s intentions to recycle and classify waste Solid waste management (hereafter SWM) has become an increasingly popular academic topic during the last four decades (Medina-Mijangos & Seguí-Amórtegui, 2020). The literature on SWM takes many approaches to determining the most appropriate means of strengthening this activity. Examples include integrated management (Kannan et al., 2024), targets/prevention (Shooshtarian et al., 2024), and zero waste (Linglin, 2024), among others. A growing and complementary approach conceptualizes the issue as a governance issue that demands collaborative action and cooperation on the part of all the agents concerned (Muheirwe et al., 2024), both those who engage in decision-making and management processes and those who are affected by the problem (Mujtaba et al., 2024). The waste issue has long been studied separately from economics through incentives and subsidies (Fiorillo & Merkaj, 2024), from process engineering and optimization (Rizwan et al., 2020), as well as from the sciences of public administration and governance (Valkama et al., 2022). These research’s separately lack strength and therefore, in this article we propose to integrate to the study of waste governance also the study of the factors that influence the intention of citizens to separate and sort their waste. Both the national and municipal contexts are considered. Numerous studies in the field of waste management: As an example, White and Hyde (2012) argues that a direct relationship exist between people's behavior and intention to recycle and their attitudes, subjective norm, self-identity, and prior behavior. Badawi et al., (2024) related to the Role of Awareness in Predicting the Local Tourists' Plastic Waste Reduction or Asyari et al., (2024) that studied the food waste behavioral intention related to the Islamic religiosity and Sharma et al., (2024) that analyzed the electronic waste disposal behavior in the millennials. These papers uses the TPB to demonstrate that psychological factors such as attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are important predictors of waste separation intentions and are based on their intended positive effects. The TPB proposes that behaviors are driven by intentions, which represent an individual’s level of willingness to perform a behavior or their perceived likelihood of doing so (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010). These intentions are influenced by three factors: Attitudes, which refers to how individuals view the results and repercussions of carrying out the behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010). Subjective norms, which is the way individuals interpret the views of important people in their lives regarding the performance of the behavior (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). And finally, perceptions of control, which is defined as the individuals’ evaluations of their own abilities and resources in relation to executing the behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Figure 2 shows the relationship between behavior intention and attitude. Several studies have found that people's positive attitudes can strongly affect their behavioral intentions toward domestic waste classification and recycling (Kumar and Nandini, 2013, Ma et al., 2018). Zhang et al. (2015) observed that attitudes based on relevant information and moral obligation were the most significant predictors of residents' desire to engage in recycling and household waste classification, since there is a preference to engage in good actions or avoid detrimental ones (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). According to Ajzen and Fishbein (1980), subjective norms are perceived limits and pressures from society that impact people's decision to engage in planned action. Subjective norms are led by normative beliefs in terms of the likelihood of key referent persons or groups accepting or disapproving of such behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Several studies have shown that people are more likely to recycle, separate and classify waste when they observe others doing so and feel pressure from them (Shen et al., 2019; Vassanadumrongdee and Kittipongvises, 2018). Stoeva and Alriksson (2017), on the other hand, found that subjective norms had an impact on university students' intentions to separate domestic waste in Sweden but not in Bulgaria. Perceived behavior control indicates the action's perceived ease or complexity, as well as previous practice and anticipated barriers (Ajzen, 1991). Perceived behavior control is directed by control beliefs, which is somewhat dependent on individuals past behaviors or is more typically influenced by people's self-capabilities or confidence to do the activity (Bandura et al., 1977, Bandura et al., 1980), outside information or remarks about the conduct, or other elements. People will have greater power and control over their behaviors when more resources, capacities, and opportunities become available and fewer challenges or barriers arise (Ajzen, 1991). Pakpour et al. (2014), Stoeva and Alriksson (2017), and Ma et al. (2018) all found that perceived behavior control regarding convenience, public accessibility, and information dissemination had a substantial influence on individuals' intention to separate domestic waste. There are also other factors able to affect people’s intentions of engaging in domestic waste classification. Stoeva and Alriksson (2017) found that the extent to which people are satisfied with local authorities’ actions, even in areas that are not related to waste management can have a significant impact on the decision to separate household waste. In addition, other important factors are knowledge and availability of information for the community. According to Welfens et al. (2016), the likelihood of people engaging in recycling and classifying domestic waste is increased if authorities provide education and information about these processes. The following are examples of concerns over waste separation bibliometrics analysis of TPB in environmental sciences in major countries is presented in table 1. Table 1. Examples of the use of TPB in environmental science Country Reference Issues Thailand* (Apinhapath, 2014) The TPB was the basis for this study of recycling behavior as it offers methods for changing people’s habits Iran* (Pakpour et al., 2014) Community waste management behaviors related to attitude, subjective norms, moral engagement, self-identity and intention. Japan** (Hu et al., 2021) In Japan, questionnaire surveys are widely used to determine the factors impacting citizens' intentions and actions toward waste segregation at the source. China* + (Zhang et al., 2015) Community waste segregation behaviors at the source: Using TPB in Guangzhou, China Ethiopia* (Fikadu et al., 2022) The authors use TPB to ascertain Butajira Town residents' intentions to adhere to solid waste management practices. Ghana* (Boakye et al., 2024) the behavioral elements that impact waste bin acceptability and usage in Ghana. Indonesia* (Abduh et al., 2018) Using the TPB to explain the Government's Basis for citizen waste sorting behavior. Spain** (Saldivia Gonzatti, 2021) An empirical investigation of the variables affecting the rate of collected sorted solid waste in Catalan municipalities. Australia** (White & Hyde, 2012) The part that self-perceptions play in predicting Australian households' recycling habits. Ecuador* (Hidalgo-Crespo & Amaya-Rivas, 2024) Pro-environmental actions of citizens in Guayas Province to reduce waste through an enlarged notion of planned behavior. *Developing countries **Developed countries + BRICS countries Own elaboration, adapted from Gallén & Peraita, (2015) 3. Data and Method This study uses a bibliometric analysis to explore the scholarly impact of TPB applied to recycling and solid waste management. We select this method because it allows a systematic analysis of a large and varied number of publications, highlighting the importance and temporal evolution of the subject under study and its authors. During last years, bibliometric analysis is becoming a common resource to understand the impact of scholarly literature related to sustainable topics, such as ecological economics (Costanza et al., 2016 ), the blue economy (Kabil et al., 2021 ), bioeconomy (Mougenot & Doussoulin, 2021) or circular economy (Nobre & Tavares, 2017 ). 3.1 Data source and collection This study considered Elsevier’s Scopus collection as the data source ( https://www.scopus.com/ ). Scopus is among the most important abstract and citation databases, through a wide global and regional coverage of scientific journals, conference proceedings, and books. The reliability of Scopus has led to its use as bibliometric data source for large-scale analyses in research. The entered terms used in the search are ( TITLE-ABS-KEY ( theory AND planned AND behavior ) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ( intention ) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY ( attitude ) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY ( behavio* ) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ( recycling ) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY ( municipal AND solid AND waste ) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY ( waste ) ). The selection of these terms is based on relevant topics identified in most prominent publications, reviewed in literature section. We analyze the period from 2001 to 2023, searching all languages: Chinese, English, Finnish, German, Indonesian, Lithuanian, Persian, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai. Our filtered results according to our chosen terms in the Scopus bibliographic citation database include various types of academic publications. For the present analysis, we include 591 articles, 2 books, 11 books chapters, 52 conference paper, 4 conference review, 1 data paper, 1 letter, 1 retracted, 20 reviews and 3 short survey, 693 publications finally were selected for the analysis from 2061 authors (Table 2 ). The complete records for each publication retrieved during the search were converted to a Scopus BibTex file and imported into Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny. A second search was conducted, incorporating the words governance and institutions, but only 37 items resulted. Consequently, it was preferable not to include the terms governance and institutions directly in the bibliometric study, but rather to bring them up during the discussion of municipalities. Table 2 Descriptive Statistics Description Results MAIN INFORMATION ABOUT DATA Timespan 2001:2023 Sources (Journals, Books, etc) 300 Documents 693 Annual Growth Rate % 25.06 Document Average Age 4.6 Average citations per doc 39.42 References 1 DOCUMENT CONTENTS Keywords Plus (ID) 2526 Author's Keywords (DE) 1764 AUTHORS Authors 2061 Authors of single-authored docs 39 AUTHORS COLLABORATION Single-authored docs 46 Co-Authors per Doc 3.77 International co-authorships % 25.4 DOCUMENT TYPES Article 598 Book 2 book chapter 11 conference paper 52 conference review 4 data paper 1 Letter 1 Retracted 1 Review 20 short survey 3 Source : biblioshiny 3.2 Research method Once having this selected database, we processed it through the open-source packages Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny in the R language environment. Bibliometrix allowed us to complete the full process of scientific literature analysis and data processing, including bibliometric indicators, co-citation and co-word networks, co-authorship analysis, and journal impact factors. Biblioshiny, on the other hand, captures the core Bibliometrix code and creates an online data analysis framework (Aria & Cuccurullo, 2017 ). Biblioshiny enables users to perform pertinent bibliometric and visual analysis based on an interactive web interface. Following those steps, we used the Bibliometrix and the Biblioshiny packages to perform network analysis and mapping. This method allows us to show bibliometric indicators on Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management, such as publication volume in number of articles, citation count, and keywords. Then, we developed figures and maps such as the thematic evolution map and an international collaboration network map to identify research hotspots, research status, and the dynamics of Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management main topics during different periods (Fig. 3 ). 4. Results and discussion Figure 4 shows the growth in citations to Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management publications from one yearly document in 2001 to 137 in 2023, the year where publications peaked. The results show that the number of publications increased considerably (25% annual growth rate), specifically during the last 10-year period. The results are similar to Fig. 2 of Concari et al., ( 2022 )'s article, where the increase starts notably from 2015. The journal that published most articles about Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management over the period 2001–2023 are presented in Fig. 5. ‘Sustainability’ was the journal that published the highest number of articles (63) during the period 2001–2023. ‘Journal of Cleaner Production’ was the second leading journal with 46 articles found, followed by ‘Resources, Conservation and Recycling’. In addition, this Journal is the source with the higher impact, with a h_index of 27. The three first Sustainability, Journal of Cleaner Production, and Resources, Conservation and Recycling dominate publications on municipal waste management using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) due to their thematic alignment with sustainability and environmental behavior, high academic impact, openness to interdisciplinary approaches and global visibility through open access publishing process. Moreover, their responsiveness to emerging research trends in circular economy and citizen participation, making them ideal platforms for studies integrating psychological theories into urban management contexts. These results are similar to those in Table 1 of Concari et al., ( 2022 )'s and Table 3 of Phulwani et al., ( 2020 )’s paper, where Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Journal of Cleaner Production and Sustainability dominate the top articles published in Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management. Table 3 represents the ten most global cited documents on Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management. The most global cited document is the article titled ‘Green identity, green living? The role of pro-environmental self-identity in determining consistency across diverse pro-environmental behaviors (Whitmarsh, O’Neill, 2010) including a total of citations of 1050. Whitmarsh, O’Neill, (2010) study is the most cited and would be expected to include a more in-depth discussion of the institutional or public policy implications of their results, and it is interesting to ask why they did not include in their model questions directly related to institutional issues, noting how they mention that there are barriers that could be associated with the functioning of public administration such as affordable public transport, the management of lower-cost green goods and personal carbon allowances among other community resources.. Lorraine Whitmarsh also has recent articles on the climate change (Poortinga et al., 2023 ) and the Pro-environmental behavioral spillover (Nash & Whitmarsh, 2023 ). Table 3 presented the review titled ‘Pro-environmental behaviors through the lens of the theory of planned behavior: A scoping review’ (Yuriev et al., 2020) presents the higher Total Citations (TC) per year considering 72 TC per year. Table 3 Most global cited documents n Document DOI Total Citations TC per Year Normalized TC 1 WHITMARSH L, 2010, J ENVIRON PSYCHOL 10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.01.003 1050 70.00 3.65 2 TONGLET M, 2004, RESOUR CONSERV RECYCL-a 10.1016/j.resconrec.2003.11.001 685 32.62 2.91 3 STANCU V, 2016, APPETITE 10.1016/j.appet.2015.08.025 632 70.22 6.74 4 VISSCHERS VHM, 2016, J ENVIRON PSYCHOL 10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.11.007 486 54.00 5.18 5 GREAVES M, 2013, J ENVIRON PSYCHOL 10.1016/j.jenvp.2013.02.003 474 39.50 3.00 6 BOTETZAGIAS I, 2015, RESOUR CONSERV RECYCL 10.1016/j.resconrec.2014.12.004 405 40.50 3.47 7 YURIEV A, 2020, RESOUR CONSERV RECYCL 10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104660 360 72.00 12.01 8 RUSSELL SV, 2017, RESOUR CONSERV RECYCL 10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.06.007 322 40.25 3.92 9 WHITE KM, 2009, BR J SOC PSYCHOL 10.1348/014466608X295207 317 19.81 1.81 10 GRAHAM-ROWE E, 2015, RESOUR CONSERV RECYCL 10.1016/j.resconrec.2015.05.020 313 31.30 2.68 Source: biblioshiny Table 4 represents the most relevant affiliations about Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management publications, mainly present in Asia and specifically in China. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is the affiliation with higher publications (19 documents), following by the Shenzhen University (China) (14 documents). Table 4 Most relevant affiliations and country affiliations (top 10) n Affiliation Articles 1 THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY 19 2 SHENZHEN UNIVERSITY 14 3 CHULALONGKORN UNIVERSITY 13 4 UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF CHINA 12 5 UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA 10 6 UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA 10 7 NANJING FORESTRY UNIVERSITY 9 8 NANJING UNIVERSITY OF INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 9 9 SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS 9 10 NANKAI UNIVERSITY 8 Source: biblioshiny Analyzing the corresponding author’s countries in Fig. 6 , China is the country with higher production and higher Single Country production (SCP = 123) and the country with higher Multiple Country Production (MCP = 47). These results are similar to those in Table 2 of Concari et al., ( 2022 )'s paper, where China and the USA appear as the countries where the most productive correspondence authors on the subject belong. Figure 7 identifies the country collaboration of the main producing countries. China holds a strong connection line with European and North American region, indicating the status of collaboration among them. The scale of cooperation is represented through the thickness of the line. China and other Asian countries showed deepened cooperation and exchange among scholars. The predominance of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) applied to recycling and solid waste management publications from Asia, mainly from China and other countries is largely due to the region's rapid expansion in academic research, specifically through a strong governmental support for behavioral studies in environmental policy, and a growing interest in adapting Western psychological models to local cultural backgrounds. This context has led to a surge in empirical studies using TPB, particularly in China, where researchers actively publish in international journals to enhance global academic visibility (Naskar & Lindhal, 2025). In addition, several articles present similar results of collaboration on issues related to waste management (Danya et al., 2024 ), recycling (Ravanal et al., 2024 ), and bioeconomy (Mougenot & Doussoulin, 2021). Figure 8 showed the co-occurence network. More co-selected authors' keywords in the Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management literature increase the size of the box. The topic similarity and its relative strength is represented through the distance between the elements of individual pairs. Different box colors were assigned to individual clusters. A network of 3 distinct clusters are highlighted in Fig. 8 representing individual subfields in Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management research. It is remarkable that the key term “municipality” does not appear in Fig. 8 , considering that it was one of the key words included in the study. This shows the scarce relationship in the literature between institutional topics such as municipality and other topics closer to waste management, recycling and TPB. In Fig. 9 , a three fields graph represented the relationships between the main authors, the sources and keywords. Therefore, the diagram by rectangles with distinct colors illustred the main elements. The value of the sum of the relations appearing between the element represented by the rectangles and the diagram of the other elements designed the height of the rectangles. The size of the rectangles depends on more relations the element had. The analysis showed in which research topics of Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management literature the main authors had explored and which sources they had most often published. The research topics were considered here as the keywords of the authors. The analysis of keywords, top authors and sources indicated that ten authors (i.e. Li, H., Zhang, L, Wang, Z., Zhang, Y., Wang, Y, Li, J., Wang, H., Wang, J, Zhang, J. y Wang, X.). These results of Fig. 9 on the most relevant authors are consistent with those presented in Fig. 3 of Li et al., ( 2018 )'s article that bibliometrically analyzes waste recycling and reuse. Figure 9 showed that 8 sources (i.e., Journal of Cleaner Production, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Sustainability (Switzerland), Journal of Environmental Psychology, Journal of Environmental Management, Frontiers in Psychology, Waste Management, Recycling) were closely linked to the main research topics of Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management (Waste Management, Recycling, Theory of Planned Behavior, China, Human, Article, Attitude, Female and Adult). Figure 9 , like Fig. 8 , does not present the word municipality, taking into account that it was one of the key words included in the study. There are a some of reasons why certain words that should be represented in the discussion of some topics are underrepresented in bibliometric terms. As mentioned by Brück, ( 2023 ). Some keywords may be underrepresented because they are written in languages other than English. Masi et al., ( 2020 ) and Pilkina & Lovakov, ( 2022 ) mentions that there is also discrimination and underrepresentation of women in scientific production and therefore in bibliometric studies. Liu et al., ( 2023 ) argues that some emerging topics are not yet fully represented in the bibliometric results. Therefore, it is necessary to wait for scientific studies that have been published in order to increase the visibility of the topic or keyword studied. English & Pourbohloul, ( 2017 ) proposes that there is a hegemony in scientific research, therefore some countries with research capacity and the ability to publish scientific articles position certain topics in scientific research and that other topics and keywords are not a priority in their research and are therefore underrepresented in bibliometric analyses. As a final comment on the low representation of municipalities in the bibliometric search of this article and agreeing with the reasons given above, we can mention that : 1. Following Brück, ( 2023 ). This may be the case for topics such as municipality which is generally presented in a public policy report format, not an academic format and in the language of the developing countries where the topic is being worked on. 2. Taking into account that in the municipalities of developing countries the priority issues are health, poverty, security, among others. Waste separation and recycling are not a priority issue in municipalities in the developing countries where waste is generally sent to landfill, so this issue is underrepresented in the articles, similar to the combined argumentation of English & Pourbohloul, ( 2017 ) and Ferronato & Torretta, ( 2019 ). Conclusion First let us begin with the surprising finding that is related to the low presence of the word municipality. As mentioned at the end of the results, this may be due to several reasons. Such as the language and format in which municipal issues are presented. The report's most widely used dialect is English (693 records). It may also be due to the fact that it is a nascent topic and is not necessarily among the priority topics in the public and academic discussion of the countries that dominate the discussion on waste management. China is the country that has done the most research (123 articles in SCP). As also mentioned above in the results. A solution to increase the presence of municipal issues in the scholar is precisely to increase the number of studies related to these topics and to transfer the findings found in territorial public policies to academic repositories such as indexed articles. These case studies of developing countries could for example be carried out in collaboration with researchers from developed (Fig. 7 ) and developing countries. Developing countries such as African and Latin American countries do not participate a lot in this exchange and have a passive attitude. Based on this deficit, the authors of this article want to contribute to the discussion and inclusion of developing countries in the application of the TPB in waste municipal governance contents. With respect to this point, it is vital to specify the broad participation and trades among researchers from the European and North American region, Asian Countries, Australia and Brazil. It is relevant to mention that there are important routes of scientific collaboration in developed countries. Second. the article has provided evidence that the relationship between TPB and waste issues and municipal governance is an important field of assessment that is still under-explored in an integrative manner, even though advances in standard bibliometric research are typically regarded as essential work that focuses on basic and contemporary issues using TPB. Regardless of how, all things considered, the examination broken down in this study has probably already been performed in related regions, or in a similar examination under different headings. The research revealed the complex interplay between multiple factors that shape the knowledge that drives the development of municipal waste management beyond 2001. Finding open doors for the application of TPB methods and the management of municipal garbage in various nations was one of the topics covered in this research. Third, another highly relevant topic in this article is related to environmental sciences and more specifically to one of the subtopics proposed in Fig. 1 , sustainability. One of the most significant and complex issues in sustainability and waste management is individuals' perceptions of the government. This encouraged us to conduct a bibliometric examination of projected theoretical behaviour between 2020 and 2023 to see which characteristics influence perceptions of municipal governance. Considering that this perception is dependent on attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behaviour control. Therefore, the key takeaway from this study is the importance of governance in successful waste management. Numerous efforts from the academic community and the government have aided this. The "Sustainability" is the publication that distributed the most inquiries (63 articles). Other important sources were Resources, Conservation and Recycling and Journal of Cleaner Production, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and waste management. Clarkson, Pm. (1214 total citations), Whitmarsh L. (1050 total citations), and Tonglet M. (685 total citations) are the most useful creators, and the co-citation arrangement of references disclosed three clusters: "questionnaire" in green, "waste management" in red, and "human and TPB" in blue. Lastly, the outcomes presented in this paper indicate that one of the factors contributing to the increase in the production of research and articles in developing nations is the makeup of the results that deal with TPB, recycling, and municipal governance issues. resembles China and, as such, merits an attempt at public policy that incorporates these three analytical facets. There is a drawback with our assessment approach. As mentioned in the conclusion, the word municipal appears very little in bibliometric searches combined with other words such as theory planned behavior and recycling. To overcome this difficulty we can change the word municipal for other more general words such as environmental governance or environmental policy as did Wu et al., ( 2018 ). One concrete direction of research is the TPB to jointly analyze the factors affecting waste sorting using a municipal variable that includes such questions as : Trust in the municipality will have a positive effect on attitudes towards future use of the municipal recycling service ( adapted from Ozkan & Kanat, ( 2011 )). The project named “Institutional and individual factors to promote responsible behavior in Chile's household waste governance” is advancing in this line of research. Declarations 6. Acknowledgments We express our gratitude to the National Research and Development Agency of Chile (ANID) for providing the following funds to assist us in conducting this study: Fondecyt - Iniciación Project “Institutional and individual factors to promote responsible behavior in Chile's household waste governance” (project number 11240954). 7. Funding Declaration This research was supported by the National Research and Development Agency of Chile (ANID) through the Fondecyt - Iniciación Project titled “Institutional and individual factors to promote responsible behavior in Chile's household waste governance” (Project No. 11240954). 8. Clinical trial number Clinical trial number: not applicable. 9. Ethics, Consent to Participate, and Consent to Publish declarations Ethics, Consent to Participate, and Consent to Publish declarations: not applicable. References Abduh, M., Budianta, D., & Erina, L. (2018). Governmental Basis For Household Waste Sorting Behavior: Extending The Theory Of Planned Behavior. E-Bangi , 13 (1), 1–11. Abreu, M. C. S. de, da Silva, L. A., Consciência Silvestre, H., & Emmendoerfer, M. L. (2024). Does self‐organizing policy network provide effective waste services? An empirical evaluation of institutional collective action and transaction cost dilemmas. Public Administration and Development . Ajzen, I. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7375956","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":510273020,"identity":"99668e28-4c9a-47c4-87b0-58143f1f5305","order_by":0,"name":"Jean Pierre Doussoulin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidad Austral de Chile","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jean","middleName":"Pierre","lastName":"Doussoulin","suffix":""},{"id":510273021,"identity":"1a726e75-d677-4bc5-9ad0-9a2624647e28","order_by":1,"name":"Benoit Mougenot","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAziLvYGBIaEAyDhArBYeHqDSBAOStEgkQLmEtJiLHT4m+aXijpy95BvjDw8MGOT4biSwPfiAR4vl7LQ0aZkzz4x5pHPMJIAOM5a8kcBuOAOfw27nmElLth1O7AFqAfklcQPQFmkeglr+AbVInjH+ANRSD9byh4AWyY8NQC0SPAYghyUYgLTg8z7QL8nWDMcOG/OcSSsDapEwnHnmYbthDx4t5tLJB2/+qDksx95+ePPHHxU28nzHk489+IHPGiBgRvKsBBAzthHQAFSCbiYbQS2jYBSMglEwogAAsUBLxhGqrr0AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Benoit","middleName":"","lastName":"Mougenot","suffix":""},{"id":510273023,"identity":"103aead8-19b6-4b13-a513-d2e3b6eb0191","order_by":2,"name":"Franz Carrillo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidad Austral de Chile","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Franz","middleName":"","lastName":"Carrillo","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-14 17:08:17","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7375956/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7375956/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":90666257,"identity":"931d9c26-a202-4c8c-8ba8-0b78036ec39d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-05 12:41:35","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":28027,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEnvironmental science key issues.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSource: \u003c/strong\u003e(Allaby, 2002; 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A bibliometric review","fulltext":[{"header":"1.\tIntroduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eIt is well known that the complexity of the environmental problems of urban metabolism must be approached from a transdisciplinary perspective (Keskin \u0026amp; Mengüç, 2018; Max-Neef, 2005). This view has to include not only the economic and technical issues of the environmental sciences but also the user's view on a human and municipal scale. Studying the intentions, attitudes, behavior control \u0026nbsp;that influence these environmental behaviors (Ma et al., 2018). Knowing which of these three components is most relevant at a territorial or municipal scale allows focusing public policy efforts on a specific socio-economic group.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe objective of this study is to analyze how relevant municipal waste management is within the studies comprising the theory of planned behavior (TPB).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe can notice that within the objective of this article, the word “municipal” is included. Several of the studies that use the TPB method to study environmental behavior, such as Wang et al., (2021), mention the word “municipal” in their titles, but it is not included in the variables studied and that affect behavior. This seems curious to us and therefore we believe that we need to study in more depth why the word municipal is not included, taking into account that it is the municipality that generally in the cities carries out the waste management and is directly related to the behavior of the citizens.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe novelty of this work is precisely to fill this gap in the literature by exploring how present in the discussion of environmental studies is the discussion of environmental behavior such as recycling at the municipal scale.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs Si et al., (2019) argues in a bibliometric paper that in recent years there has been a growing interest in the study of topics such as environmental studies like recycling and waste separation at source in the scholar, considering that the TPB was not developed since its genesis on issues related to sustainability but was dedicated to study issues closer to psychology.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is reaffirmed if we use as an example what is shown in figure 9 of Si et al., (2019)'s article. In this figure within the main topics, we can find waste management and as subtopics recycling and separation. This motivates us to use these words in our bibliometric search ( see figure 3).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis paper considers an extensive bibliometric examination utilizing Biblioshiny, a web interface for bibliometrix examination based on R programming (Gagolewski, 2011; Mougenot \u0026amp; Doussoulin, 2021; Ravanal et al., 2024).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis specific approach has allowed us to provide options for the standardization of citation counts in the context of research evaluation in future research areas, as well as to make broad statements about the accuracy of citation analyses. In addition, it makes it possible to support academic research on some very relevant topics, such as urban waste management. It is feasible to find out the historical foundations of fields of study or crucial works for a field by examining references, which advances science (Ninkov et al., 2022).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe increasing concerns about waste management validates the need for more feasible structures that prioritize sustainability and environmental well-being of citizens. The study looks at academic productivity published in journals indexed in the Scopus database between 2000 and 2020 using a bibliometric analysis approach in a municipal context. The investigation aims to comprehend the mechanisms underlying the rise in productivity related to the body of knowledge.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is widely accepted that two of the most prominent and significant databases in the world are Scopus and the Web of Science. These two databases, which are now useful resources for bibliometric analysis, cover published papers as well as citation databases across all scientific domains (Chadegani et al., 2013). Scopus offers 20% more coverage than the Web of Science, according to Vieira \u0026amp; Gomes, (2009). Consequently, the study's literature was retrieved from Scopus.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStudies using bibliometrics have been conducted to assess how well the notion of planned behavior works in the environmental sciences (Si et al., 2019). Shi et al., (2021) uses bibliometrics to study the relationship between TPB and recycling and concludes that most of these studies are based on China, highlighting also the cooperation existing between China, the US and Europe. According to Phulwani et al., (2020), which uses bibliometrics to study recycling behavior, Stewart Barr was the most influential author and Resources, Conservation and Recycling was the publication with the largest contribution with 105 articles. Concari et al., (2022) investigate the ways in which the research of recycling behavior has been developed, as well as the primary topics of interest and potential gaps in literature.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough there is a consistent body of bibliometric studies examining the use of TPB on recycling and circular economy (Si et al., 2019), the addition of important variables such as governance and public policies has not been yet addressed, particularly \u0026nbsp;municipal governance.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study is structured as follows. The Background section shows a bibliometric investigation of writings evaluated by specialists on the topic. Section three recognizes associations and public joint coordinated efforts, with perhaps the most outstanding model being that the TPB and municipal governance thought has been dissected from an assortment of sensible viewpoints. Part 4 finishes with a list of future course inquiry.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2.\tBackground","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2.1\u0026nbsp;Environmental science and governance towards TPB\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEnvironmental science is an interdisciplinary discipline that studies the interactions between living beings, including humans, and their environment, including more recently current issues such as technology and artificial intelligence (Shuford, 2024). It aims to understand and address environmental problems, as well as to promote environmental sustainability and conservation (Allaby, 2002; Chiras, 2009).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGiven its interdisciplinary and holistic approach, environmental science has also taken a political approach to respond to the problems of local communities. This is mentioned by O\u0026rsquo;Riordan, (2004) as follows.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Environmental science has become highly political, and geographers need to recognize and work within an expanding political process. Examples of new forms of governing via sustainability science for sustainable futures\u0026hellip;..at local government level\u0026rdquo;(O\u0026rsquo;Riordan, 2004).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs mentioned in Figure 1, one of the key issues in environmental sciences is sustainable development. Jordan, (2008) mentions that a growing number of studies link sustainable development and governance.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to Hooghe \u0026amp; Marks, (2001), the governance process considers all governmental levels as well as any additional territorial agreements that may come to light during the decision-making process, decentralizing formal authority both upwards and downwards.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the debate of governance, one perspective highlights the shifting articulation patterns that occur at the territorial or subnational level. It is defined as \u0026quot;potentially a space for the consolidation of pluralistic, open, and inclusive networks, through the multilevel and horizontal participation as two key drivers for the deepening of democracy encouraging the formation of local and regional administrations as well as the articulation of multilevel networks as essential components of territorial leadership \u0026nbsp;(Delamaza et al., 2015; Menocal \u0026amp; Eade, 2004).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe complexity of waste governance challenges at the national level has increased over the past few decades (Abreu et al., 2024). Growing waste production, problems with waste governance, sustainability, and social and environmental conscience are major drivers of institutional reform in municipalities and other institutions towards improved public policies on waste governance. Still, there are several pragmatic and waste-related considerations that impact institutions as well as citizens.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn recent decades, waste governance has become more complex at the municipal level. This institutions are implementing better public policies to address waste production, governance issues, sustainability, and social environmental conscience (Yang et al., 2024). However, practical and waste-related factors also play a role. To improve this governance, a few efforts from educational institutions, international organizations, local governments, and municipalities have emerged (Yang et al., 2024). This suggests that a bibliometric analysis could assist in determining how governance affects waste management.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is possible to perform governance at several levels, including central state, regional, and municipal government. Because the TPB evaluates residents\u0026apos; behavior, the municipality represents the state closest to them, which is why we chose the municipal level as the study\u0026apos;s emphasis.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy undertaking waste separation at the source in order to use and recycle the municipal solid waste that households generate, several developed economies (such as Germany, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, and the USA) have accomplished a sustainable waste management (Knickmeyer, 2020). Concern over researching waste separation intention and other psychological aspects influencing the implementation of circular economy concepts in low- and middle-income nations is growing (Oduro-Appiah et al., 2022). Part of this concern of the government and municipality to know how to improve the intention to recycle or separate at the source, can be explored through a method that uses surveys and a process of data analysis using multivariate regression or structural equations that have been defined as Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTPB has undergone multiple revisions following the fundamental Ajzen (1991) and Ajzen \u0026amp; Fishbein (1977) essays. Conner \u0026amp; Armitage, (1998) conducted a review without utilizing bibliometric tools, concluding after a thorough literature analysis that TPB can support the design of effective interventions that generate behavioral changes by describing the purpose that drives the decision.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2.1\u0026nbsp;Theory of planned behavior and people\u0026rsquo;s intentions to recycle and classify waste\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSolid waste management (hereafter SWM) has become an increasingly popular academic topic during the last four decades (Medina-Mijangos \u0026amp; Segu\u0026iacute;-Am\u0026oacute;rtegui, 2020). The literature on SWM takes many approaches to determining the most appropriate means of strengthening this activity. Examples include integrated management (Kannan et al., 2024), targets/prevention (Shooshtarian et al., 2024), and zero waste (Linglin, 2024), among others. A growing and complementary approach conceptualizes the issue as a governance issue that demands collaborative action and cooperation on the part of all the agents concerned (Muheirwe et al., 2024), both those who engage in decision-making and management processes and those who are affected by the problem (Mujtaba et al., 2024).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe waste issue has long been studied separately from economics through incentives and subsidies (Fiorillo \u0026amp; Merkaj, 2024), from process engineering and optimization (Rizwan et al., 2020), as well as from the sciences of public administration and governance (Valkama et al., 2022). These research\u0026rsquo;s separately lack strength and therefore, in this article we propose to integrate to the study of waste governance also the study of the factors that influence the intention of citizens to separate and sort their waste. Both the national and municipal contexts are considered.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNumerous studies in the field of waste management: As an example, White and Hyde (2012) argues that a direct relationship exist between people\u0026apos;s behavior and intention to recycle and their attitudes, subjective norm, self-identity, and prior behavior. Badawi et al., (2024) related to \u0026nbsp;the Role of Awareness in Predicting the Local Tourists\u0026apos; Plastic Waste Reduction or Asyari et al., (2024) that studied the food waste behavioral intention related to the Islamic religiosity and Sharma et al., (2024) that analyzed the electronic waste disposal behavior in the millennials. These papers uses the TPB to demonstrate that psychological factors such as attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are important predictors of waste separation intentions and are based on their intended positive effects.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe TPB proposes that behaviors are driven by intentions, which represent an individual\u0026rsquo;s level of willingness to perform a behavior or their perceived likelihood of doing so (Fishbein \u0026amp; Ajzen, 2010). These intentions are influenced by three factors: Attitudes, which refers to how individuals view the results and repercussions of carrying out the behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Fishbein \u0026amp; Ajzen, 2010). Subjective norms, which is the way individuals interpret the views of important people in their lives regarding the performance of the behavior (Eagly \u0026amp; Chaiken, 1993). And finally, perceptions of control, which is defined as the individuals\u0026rsquo; evaluations of their own abilities and resources in relation to executing the behavior (Ajzen, 1991).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure 2 shows the relationship between behavior intention and attitude. Several studies have found that people\u0026apos;s positive attitudes can strongly affect their behavioral intentions toward domestic waste classification and recycling (Kumar and Nandini, 2013, Ma et al., 2018). Zhang et al. (2015) observed that attitudes based on relevant information and moral obligation were the most significant predictors of residents\u0026apos; desire to engage in recycling and household waste classification, since there is a preference to engage in good actions or avoid detrimental ones (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to Ajzen and Fishbein (1980), subjective norms are perceived limits and pressures from society that impact people\u0026apos;s decision to engage in planned action. Subjective norms are led by normative beliefs in terms of the likelihood of key referent persons or groups accepting or disapproving of such behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Several studies have shown that people are more likely to recycle, separate and classify waste when they observe others doing so and feel pressure from them (Shen et al., 2019; Vassanadumrongdee and Kittipongvises, 2018). Stoeva and Alriksson (2017), on the other hand, found that subjective norms had an impact on university students\u0026apos; intentions to separate domestic waste in Sweden but not in Bulgaria.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePerceived behavior control indicates the action\u0026apos;s perceived ease or complexity, as well as previous practice and anticipated barriers (Ajzen, 1991). Perceived behavior control is directed by control beliefs, which is somewhat dependent on individuals past behaviors or is more typically influenced by people\u0026apos;s self-capabilities or confidence to do the activity (Bandura et al., 1977, Bandura et al., 1980), outside information or remarks about the conduct, or other elements. People will have greater power and control over their behaviors when more resources, capacities, and opportunities become available and fewer challenges or barriers arise (Ajzen, 1991). Pakpour et al. (2014), Stoeva and Alriksson (2017), and Ma et al. (2018) all found that perceived behavior control regarding convenience, public accessibility, and information dissemination had a substantial influence on individuals\u0026apos; intention to separate domestic waste.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are also other factors able to affect people\u0026rsquo;s intentions of engaging in domestic waste classification. Stoeva and Alriksson (2017) found that the extent to which people are satisfied with local authorities\u0026rsquo; actions, even in areas that are not related to waste management can have a significant impact on the decision to separate household waste. In addition, other important factors are knowledge and availability of information for the community. According to Welfens et al. (2016), the likelihood of people engaging in recycling and classifying domestic waste is increased if authorities provide education and information about these processes.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe following are examples of concerns over waste separation bibliometrics analysis of TPB in environmental sciences in major countries is presented in table 1.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 1. Examples of the use of TPB in environmental science\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCountry\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 245px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eReference\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 189px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIssues\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThailand*\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 245px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(Apinhapath, 2014)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 189px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe TPB was the basis for this study of recycling behavior as it offers methods for changing people\u0026rsquo;s habits\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIran*\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 245px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(Pakpour et al., 2014)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 189px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCommunity waste management behaviors\u0026nbsp;related to attitude, subjective norms, moral engagement, self-identity and intention.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eJapan**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 245px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(Hu et al., 2021)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 189px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn Japan, questionnaire surveys are widely used to determine the factors impacting citizens\u0026apos; intentions and actions toward waste segregation at the source.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eChina*\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 245px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(Zhang et al., 2015)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 189px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCommunity waste segregation behaviors at the source: Using TPB in Guangzhou, China\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEthiopia*\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 245px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(Fikadu et al., 2022)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 189px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe authors use TPB to ascertain Butajira Town residents\u0026apos; intentions to adhere to solid waste management practices.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGhana*\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 245px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(Boakye et al., 2024)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 189px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ethe behavioral elements that impact waste bin acceptability and usage in Ghana.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIndonesia*\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 245px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(Abduh et al., 2018)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 189px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUsing the TPB to explain the Government\u0026apos;s Basis for citizen waste sorting behavior.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSpain**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 245px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(Saldivia Gonzatti, 2021)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 189px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAn empirical investigation of the variables affecting the rate of collected sorted solid waste in Catalan municipalities.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAustralia**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 245px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(White \u0026amp; Hyde, 2012)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 189px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe part that self-perceptions play in predicting Australian households\u0026apos; recycling habits.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEcuador*\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 245px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(Hidalgo-Crespo \u0026amp; Amaya-Rivas, 2024)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 189px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePro-environmental actions of citizens in Guayas Province to reduce waste through an enlarged notion of planned behavior.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e*Developing countries **Developed countries \u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003eBRICS countries\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; Own elaboration, adapted from Gall\u0026eacute;n \u0026amp; Peraita, (2015)\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"3. Data and Method","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study uses a bibliometric analysis to explore the scholarly impact of TPB applied to recycling and solid waste management. We select this method because it allows a systematic analysis of a large and varied number of publications, highlighting the importance and temporal evolution of the subject under study and its authors.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring last years, bibliometric analysis is becoming a common resource to understand the impact of scholarly literature related to sustainable topics, such as ecological economics (Costanza et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), the blue economy (Kabil et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), bioeconomy (Mougenot \u0026amp; Doussoulin, 2021) or circular economy (Nobre \u0026amp; Tavares, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.1 Data source and collection\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study considered Elsevier\u0026rsquo;s Scopus collection as the data source (\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://www.scopus.com/\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"https://www.scopus.com/\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e). Scopus is among the most important abstract and citation databases, through a wide global and regional coverage of scientific journals, conference proceedings, and books. The reliability of Scopus has led to its use as bibliometric data source for large-scale analyses in research. The entered terms used in the search are ( TITLE-ABS-KEY ( theory AND planned AND behavior ) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ( intention ) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY ( attitude ) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY ( behavio* ) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ( recycling ) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY ( municipal AND solid AND waste ) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY ( waste ) ). The selection of these terms is based on relevant topics identified in most prominent publications, reviewed in literature section.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe analyze the period from 2001 to 2023, searching all languages: Chinese, English, Finnish, German, Indonesian, Lithuanian, Persian, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur filtered results according to our chosen terms in the Scopus bibliographic citation database include various types of academic publications. For the present analysis, we include 591 articles, 2 books, 11 books chapters, 52 conference paper, 4 conference review, 1 data paper, 1 letter, 1 retracted, 20 reviews and 3 short survey, 693 publications finally were selected for the analysis from 2061 authors (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). The complete records for each publication retrieved during the search were converted to a Scopus BibTex file and imported into Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA second search was conducted, incorporating the words governance and institutions, but only 37 items resulted. Consequently, it was preferable not to include the terms governance and institutions directly in the bibliometric study, but rather to bring them up during the discussion of municipalities.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDescriptive Statistics\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDescription\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eResults\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMAIN INFORMATION ABOUT DATA\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTimespan\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2001:2023\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSources (Journals, Books, etc)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e300\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDocuments\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e693\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnnual Growth Rate %\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25.06\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDocument Average Age\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4.6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAverage citations per doc\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e39.42\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eReferences\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDOCUMENT CONTENTS\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eKeywords Plus (ID)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2526\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAuthor's Keywords (DE)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1764\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAUTHORS\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAuthors\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2061\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAuthors of single-authored docs\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e39\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAUTHORS COLLABORATION\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSingle-authored docs\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e46\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCo-Authors per Doc\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.77\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eInternational co-authorships %\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25.4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDOCUMENT TYPES\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eArticle\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e598\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBook\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ebook chapter\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003econference paper\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e52\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003econference review\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003edata paper\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLetter\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRetracted\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eReview\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eshort survey\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003ctfoot\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"2\"\u003eSource : biblioshiny\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tfoot\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.2 Research method\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eOnce having this selected database, we processed it through the open-source packages Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny in the R language environment. Bibliometrix allowed us to complete the full process of scientific literature analysis and data processing, including bibliometric indicators, co-citation and co-word networks, co-authorship analysis, and journal impact factors. Biblioshiny, on the other hand, captures the core Bibliometrix code and creates an online data analysis framework (Aria \u0026amp; Cuccurullo, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). Biblioshiny enables users to perform pertinent bibliometric and visual analysis based on an interactive web interface.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFollowing those steps, we used the Bibliometrix and the Biblioshiny packages to perform network analysis and mapping. This method allows us to show bibliometric indicators on Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management, such as publication volume in number of articles, citation count, and keywords. Then, we developed figures and maps such as the thematic evolution map and an international collaboration network map to identify research hotspots, research status, and the dynamics of Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management main topics during different periods (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. Results and discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e shows the growth in citations to Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management publications from one yearly document in 2001 to 137 in 2023, the year where publications peaked. The results show that the number of publications increased considerably (25% annual growth rate), specifically during the last 10-year period. The results are similar to Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e of Concari et al., (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e)\u0026apos;s article, where the increase starts notably from 2015.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe journal that published most articles about Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management over the period 2001\u0026ndash;2023 are presented in Fig. 5. \u0026lsquo;Sustainability\u0026rsquo; was the journal that published the highest number of articles (63) during the period 2001\u0026ndash;2023. \u0026lsquo;Journal of Cleaner Production\u0026rsquo; was the second leading journal with 46 articles found, followed by \u0026lsquo;Resources, Conservation and Recycling\u0026rsquo;. In addition, this Journal is the source with the higher impact, with a h_index of 27. The three first Sustainability, Journal of Cleaner Production, and Resources, Conservation and Recycling dominate publications on municipal waste management using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) due to their thematic alignment with sustainability and environmental behavior, high academic impact, openness to interdisciplinary approaches and global visibility through open access publishing process. Moreover, their responsiveness to emerging research trends in circular economy and citizen participation, making them ideal platforms for studies integrating psychological theories into urban management contexts. These results are similar to those in Table \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e of Concari et al., (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e)\u0026apos;s and Table \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e of Phulwani et al., (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e)\u0026rsquo;s paper, where Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Journal of Cleaner Production and Sustainability dominate the top articles published in Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTable \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e represents the ten most global cited documents on Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management. The most global cited document is the article titled \u0026lsquo;Green identity, green living? The role of pro-environmental self-identity in determining consistency across diverse pro-environmental behaviors (Whitmarsh, O\u0026rsquo;Neill, 2010) including a total of citations of 1050. Whitmarsh, O\u0026rsquo;Neill, (2010) study is the most cited and would be expected to include a more in-depth discussion of the institutional or public policy implications of their results, and it is interesting to ask why they did not include in their model questions directly related to institutional issues, noting how they mention that there are barriers that could be associated with the functioning of public administration such as affordable public transport, the management of lower-cost green goods and personal carbon allowances among other community resources.. Lorraine Whitmarsh also has recent articles on the climate change (Poortinga et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) and the Pro-environmental behavioral spillover (Nash \u0026amp; Whitmarsh, \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTable \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e presented the review titled \u0026lsquo;Pro-environmental behaviors through the lens of the theory of planned behavior: A scoping review\u0026rsquo; (Yuriev et al., 2020) presents the higher Total Citations (TC) per year considering 72 TC per year.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMost global cited documents\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003en\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDocument\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDOI\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTotal Citations\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTC per Year\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNormalized TC\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWHITMARSH L, 2010, J ENVIRON PSYCHOL\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.01.003\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1050\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e70.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.65\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTONGLET M, 2004, RESOUR CONSERV RECYCL-a\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1016/j.resconrec.2003.11.001\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e685\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e32.62\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.91\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSTANCU V, 2016, APPETITE\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1016/j.appet.2015.08.025\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e632\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e70.22\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6.74\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eVISSCHERS VHM, 2016, J ENVIRON PSYCHOL\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.11.007\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e486\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e54.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5.18\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGREAVES M, 2013, J ENVIRON PSYCHOL\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1016/j.jenvp.2013.02.003\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e474\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e39.50\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBOTETZAGIAS I, 2015, RESOUR CONSERV RECYCL\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1016/j.resconrec.2014.12.004\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e405\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e40.50\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.47\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYURIEV A, 2020, RESOUR CONSERV RECYCL\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104660\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e360\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e72.00\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e12.01\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRUSSELL SV, 2017, RESOUR CONSERV RECYCL\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.06.007\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e322\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e40.25\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.92\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWHITE KM, 2009, BR J SOC PSYCHOL\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1348/014466608X295207\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e317\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e19.81\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.81\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGRAHAM-ROWE E, 2015, RESOUR CONSERV RECYCL\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1016/j.resconrec.2015.05.020\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e313\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e31.30\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.68\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003ctfoot\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"6\"\u003eSource: biblioshiny\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tfoot\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTable \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e represents the most relevant affiliations about Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management publications, mainly present in Asia and specifically in China. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is the affiliation with higher publications (19 documents), following by the Shenzhen University (China) (14 documents).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMost relevant affiliations and country affiliations (top 10)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003en\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAffiliation\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eArticles\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTHE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e19\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSHENZHEN UNIVERSITY\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCHULALONGKORN UNIVERSITY\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF CHINA\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNANJING FORESTRY UNIVERSITY\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNANJING UNIVERSITY OF INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNANKAI UNIVERSITY\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003ctfoot\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"3\"\u003eSource: biblioshiny\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tfoot\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAnalyzing the corresponding author\u0026rsquo;s countries in Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e, China is the country with higher production and higher Single Country production (SCP\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;123) and the country with higher Multiple Country Production (MCP\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;47). These results are similar to those in Table \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e of Concari et al., (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e)\u0026apos;s paper, where China and the USA appear as the countries where the most productive correspondence authors on the subject belong.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e identifies the country collaboration of the main producing countries. China holds a strong connection line with European and North American region, indicating the status of collaboration among them. The scale of cooperation is represented through the thickness of the line. China and other Asian countries showed deepened cooperation and exchange among scholars.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe predominance of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) applied to recycling and solid waste management publications from Asia, mainly from China and other countries is largely due to the region\u0026apos;s rapid expansion in academic research, specifically through a strong governmental support for behavioral studies in environmental policy, and a growing interest in adapting Western psychological models to local cultural backgrounds. This context has led to a surge in empirical studies using TPB, particularly in China, where researchers actively publish in international journals to enhance global academic visibility (Naskar \u0026amp; Lindhal, 2025). In addition, several articles present similar results of collaboration on issues related to waste management (Danya et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e), recycling (Ravanal et al., \u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e), and bioeconomy (Mougenot \u0026amp; Doussoulin, 2021).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e showed the co-occurence network. More co-selected authors\u0026apos; keywords in the Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management literature increase the size of the box. The topic similarity and its relative strength is represented through the distance between the elements of individual pairs. Different box colors were assigned to individual clusters. A network of 3 distinct clusters are highlighted in Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e representing individual subfields in Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management research. It is remarkable that the key term \u0026ldquo;municipality\u0026rdquo; does not appear in Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e, considering that it was one of the key words included in the study. This shows the scarce relationship in the literature between institutional topics such as municipality and other topics closer to waste management, recycling and TPB.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e, a three fields graph represented the relationships between the main authors, the sources and keywords. Therefore, the diagram by rectangles with distinct colors illustred the main elements. The value of the sum of the relations appearing between the element represented by the rectangles and the diagram of the other elements designed the height of the rectangles. The size of the rectangles depends on more relations the element had.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe analysis showed in which research topics of Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management literature the main authors had explored and which sources they had most often published. The research topics were considered here as the keywords of the authors. The analysis of keywords, top authors and sources indicated that ten authors (i.e. Li, H., Zhang, L, Wang, Z., Zhang, Y., Wang, Y, Li, J., Wang, H., Wang, J, Zhang, J. y Wang, X.). These results of Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e on the most relevant authors are consistent with those presented in Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e of Li et al., (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e)\u0026apos;s article that bibliometrically analyzes waste recycling and reuse.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e showed that 8 sources (i.e., Journal of Cleaner Production, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Sustainability (Switzerland), Journal of Environmental Psychology, Journal of Environmental Management, Frontiers in Psychology, Waste Management, Recycling) were closely linked to the main research topics of Theory Planned Behavior applied to recycling and solid waste management (Waste Management, Recycling, Theory of Planned Behavior, China, Human, Article, Attitude, Female and Adult).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e, like Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e, does not present the word municipality, taking into account that it was one of the key words included in the study. There are a some of reasons why certain words that should be represented in the discussion of some topics are underrepresented in bibliometric terms. As mentioned by Br\u0026uuml;ck, (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Some keywords may be underrepresented because they are written in languages other than English. Masi et al., (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e) and Pilkina \u0026amp; Lovakov, (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) mentions that there is also discrimination and underrepresentation of women in scientific production and therefore in bibliometric studies. Liu et al., (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) argues that some emerging topics are not yet fully represented in the bibliometric results. Therefore, it is necessary to wait for scientific studies that have been published in order to increase the visibility of the topic or keyword studied. English \u0026amp; Pourbohloul, (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) proposes that there is a hegemony in scientific research, therefore some countries with research capacity and the ability to publish scientific articles position certain topics in scientific research and that other topics and keywords are not a priority in their research and are therefore underrepresented in bibliometric analyses.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAs a final comment on the low representation of municipalities in the bibliometric search of this article and agreeing with the reasons given above, we can mention that : 1. Following Br\u0026uuml;ck, (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). This may be the case for topics such as municipality which is generally presented in a public policy report format, not an academic format and in the language of the developing countries where the topic is being worked on. 2. Taking into account that in the municipalities of developing countries the priority issues are health, poverty, security, among others. Waste separation and recycling are not a priority issue in municipalities in the developing countries where waste is generally sent to landfill, so this issue is underrepresented in the articles, similar to the combined argumentation of English \u0026amp; Pourbohloul, (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) and Ferronato \u0026amp; Torretta, (\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eFirst let us begin with the surprising finding that is related to the low presence of the word municipality. As mentioned at the end of the results, this may be due to several reasons. Such as the language and format in which municipal issues are presented. The report's most widely used dialect is English (693 records).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt may also be due to the fact that it is a nascent topic and is not necessarily among the priority topics in the public and academic discussion of the countries that dominate the discussion on waste management. China is the country that has done the most research (123 articles in SCP).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs also mentioned above in the results. A solution to increase the presence of municipal issues in the scholar is precisely to increase the number of studies related to these topics and to transfer the findings found in territorial public policies to academic repositories such as indexed articles. These case studies of developing countries could for example be carried out in collaboration with researchers from developed (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e) and developing countries. Developing countries such as African and Latin American countries do not participate a lot in this exchange and have a passive attitude. Based on this deficit, the authors of this article want to contribute to the discussion and inclusion of developing countries in the application of the TPB in waste municipal governance contents. With respect to this point, it is vital to specify the broad participation and trades among researchers from the European and North American region, Asian Countries, Australia and Brazil. It is relevant to mention that there are important routes of scientific collaboration in developed countries.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSecond. the article has provided evidence that the relationship between TPB and waste issues and municipal governance is an important field of assessment that is still under-explored in an integrative manner, even though advances in standard bibliometric research are typically regarded as essential work that focuses on basic and contemporary issues using TPB. Regardless of how, all things considered, the examination broken down in this study has probably already been performed in related regions, or in a similar examination under different headings.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe research revealed the complex interplay between multiple factors that shape the knowledge that drives the development of municipal waste management beyond 2001. Finding open doors for the application of TPB methods and the management of municipal garbage in various nations was one of the topics covered in this research.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThird, another highly relevant topic in this article is related to environmental sciences and more specifically to one of the subtopics proposed in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e, sustainability. One of the most significant and complex issues in sustainability and waste management is individuals' perceptions of the government. This encouraged us to conduct a bibliometric examination of projected theoretical behaviour between 2020 and 2023 to see which characteristics influence perceptions of municipal governance. Considering that this perception is dependent on attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behaviour control.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTherefore, the key takeaway from this study is the importance of governance in successful waste management. Numerous efforts from the academic community and the government have aided this.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \"Sustainability\" is the publication that distributed the most inquiries (63 articles). Other important sources were Resources, Conservation and Recycling and Journal of Cleaner Production, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and waste management. Clarkson, Pm. (1214 total citations), Whitmarsh L. (1050 total citations), and Tonglet M. (685 total citations) are the most useful creators, and the co-citation arrangement of references disclosed three clusters: \"questionnaire\" in green, \"waste management\" in red, and \"human and TPB\" in blue.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLastly, the outcomes presented in this paper indicate that one of the factors contributing to the increase in the production of research and articles in developing nations is the makeup of the results that deal with TPB, recycling, and municipal governance issues. resembles China and, as such, merits an attempt at public policy that incorporates these three analytical facets.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is a drawback with our assessment approach. As mentioned in the conclusion, the word municipal appears very little in bibliometric searches combined with other words such as theory planned behavior and recycling. To overcome this difficulty we can change the word municipal for other more general words such as environmental governance or environmental policy as did Wu et al., (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR67\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne concrete direction of research is the TPB to jointly analyze the factors affecting waste sorting using a municipal variable that includes such questions as : Trust in the municipality will have a positive effect on attitudes towards future use of the municipal recycling service ( adapted from Ozkan \u0026amp; Kanat, (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e)). The project named \u0026ldquo;Institutional and individual factors to promote responsible behavior in Chile's household waste governance\u0026rdquo; is advancing in this line of research.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e6.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe express our gratitude to the National Research and Development Agency of Chile (ANID) for providing the following funds to assist us in conducting this study: Fondecyt - Iniciación Project “Institutional and individual factors to promote responsible behavior in Chile's household waste governance” (project number 11240954).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e7.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Funding Declaration\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research was supported by the National Research and Development Agency of Chile (ANID) through the Fondecyt - Iniciación Project titled “Institutional and individual factors to promote responsible behavior in Chile's household waste governance” (Project No. 11240954).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e8.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Clinical trial number\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClinical trial number: not applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e9.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Ethics, Consent to Participate, and Consent to Publish declarations\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEthics, Consent to Participate, and Consent to Publish declarations: not applicable.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAbduh, M., Budianta, D., \u0026amp; Erina, L. 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A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of recycling behavior. \u003cem\u003eJournal of Global Marketing\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e33\u003c/em\u003e(5), 354\u0026ndash;376.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003ePilkina, M., \u0026amp; Lovakov, A. (2022). Gender disparities in Russian academia: A bibliometric analysis. \u003cem\u003eScientometrics\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e127\u003c/em\u003e(6), 3577\u0026ndash;3591.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003ePoortinga, W., Whitmarsh, L., Steentjes, K., Gray, E., Thompson, S., \u0026amp; Brisley, R. (2023). Factors and framing effects in support for net zero policies in the United Kingdom. \u003cem\u003eFrontiers in Psychology\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e14\u003c/em\u003e, 1287188.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eRavanal, M. C., Doussoulin, J. P., \u0026amp; Mougenot, B. (2024). Does sustainability matter in the global beer industry? 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Responding climate change: A bibliometric review on urban environmental governance. \u003cem\u003eJournal of Cleaner Production\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e204\u003c/em\u003e, 344\u0026ndash;354.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eYang, R., Liu, Z., Li, J., \u0026amp; Jiao, J. (2024). How does government attention matter in waste classification governance?\u0026ndash;evidence from 31 provinces in China. \u003cem\u003eManagement of Environmental Quality: An International Journal\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eZhang, D., Huang, G., Yin, X., \u0026amp; Gong, Q. (2015). Residents\u0026rsquo; waste separation behaviors at the source: Using SEM with the theory of planned behavior in Guangzhou, China.\u0026nbsp;\u003cem\u003eInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e12\u003c/em\u003e(8), 9475\u0026ndash;9491.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Theory planned behavior, recycling, municipal and bibliometric analysis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7375956/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7375956/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eOne of the most important and complex issues in sustainability and waste management is individuals' perceptions of government. Municipalities, local governments, international organizations, and academic institutions have all initiated initiatives to improve citizens' opinions of governance. This motivates us to conduct a bibliometric analysis of hypothesized planned behavior from 2020 to 2023 to see which variables influence perceptions of municipal governance. This study employs Biblioshiny, an online interface for Bibliometrix analysis, to do a computer analysis using the R package. This method offers a suitable alternative to typical bibliometric analysis for researching theory and planned behavior literature. This is one of the first studies to employ a computer approach to investigate the literary routes of theory-planned conduct in municipal material. Our paper indicates that the theory planned behavior principles have a strong potential to handle these connected issues with municipal waste management performance.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"How crucial is it for the municipal waste governance to comprehend citizens' views regarding waste separation? A bibliometric review","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-05 12:41:30","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7375956/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"1c808316-ecb5-4190-8ccb-b2d4f7ca9239","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 5th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-18T16:09:32+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-05 12:41:30","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7375956","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7375956","identity":"rs-7375956","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}