Environmental education and solid waste: a bibliometric analysis of publications.

uma análise bibliométrica das publicações

Abstract

Currently, climate change highlights a global environmental imbalance and intensifies debates about the relationship between humans and nature, revealing serious environmental problems caused by human actions. Among the main urban problems is waste, driven by consumerism, which increases the consumption of industrialized products and the generation of waste. In Brazil, the population produces an average of 1.2 kg of waste per person per day, which exacerbates the difficulty of proper disposal, especially since many municipalities do not have collection systems that prioritize segregation at the source. Given this scenario, the National Solid Waste Policy guides the correct disposal of waste and recognizes Environmental Education as a fundamental tool for society to understand the impacts of the development model on waste generation. The review research presented conducted a bibliometric analysis of publications on “solid waste” and its relationship with environmental education, based on data from the Scopus and Web of Science platforms. The results indicate that the countries with the highest waste generation are also those with the highest number of studies, highlighting the relevance of the issue. The interdisciplinary nature of the theme is also noted, given the diversity of areas involved. It is concluded that the link between solid waste and environmental education is essential for raising awareness and collective action in waste management, with environmental education playing a central role in educating citizens to be more aware of waste generation, segregation, and proper disposal, in addition to pointing out the need for more in-depth qualitative research.