Circular Economy: A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications in the Web of Science

Abstract

The circular economy, which is considered an alternative to the linear economy, is one of the concepts explored within the scope of the sustainable development approach. With the worsening of resource usage and environmental challenges in recent years, research on the circular economy has grown dramatically. In its most basic form, the circular economy is based on the reduction of output and waste, as well as the recovery of waste. This study aims to make a bibliometric analysis of the concept of circular economy, which is of great interest in the academic field. A quantitative approach for reviewing literature in any discipline is bibliometric analysis. In this regard, this study reviewed the literature and did a bibliometric analysis of the papers published in Web of Science between 2004 and 2022. The study examined 4182 studies titled 'circular economy' on the Web of Science. VOSviewer software was utilized in the study to conduct a systematic bibliometric analysis as well as a visual network analysis. As a result of the analysis, it has been revealed that the leading country in the circular economy is China, the institution is European Research Universities Association Leru, Journal is Sustainability and the researcher Patrizia Ghisellini.