Rural areas are exposed to severe environmental pollution issues fed by industrial and agricultural activities combined with poor waste and sanitation management practices, struggling to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in line with Agenda 2030. Rural communities are examined through a “dual approach” as both contributors and receivers of plastic pollution leakage into the natural environment (through the air–water–soil–biota nexus). Despite the emerging trend of plastic pollution research, in this paper, we identify few studies investigating rural communities. Therefore, proxy analysis of peer-reviewed literature is required to outline the significant gaps related to plastic pollution and plastic waste management issues in rural regions. This work focuses on key stages such as (i) plastic pollution effects on rural communities, (ii) plastic pollution generated by rural communities, (iii) the development of a rural waste management sector in low- and middle-income countries in line with the SDGs, and (iv) circular economy opportunities to reduce plastic pollution in rural areas. We conclude that rural communities must be involved in both future plastic pollution and circular economy research to help decision makers reduce environmental and public health threats, and to catalyze circular initiatives in rural areas around the world, including less developed communities.

The Waste Law No. 18/2008 Article 22 and 44 require the local governments to run environmentally sound landfill. Due to the widespread poor quality of waste management in Indonesia, this study aimed to identify the current situation by evaluating three selected landfills based on the ideal conditions of landfill practices, which are used to appraise the capability of local governments to adapt to the law. The results indicated that the local governments have problems of insufficient budget, inadequate equipment, uncollected waste and unplanned future landfill locations. All of the selected landfills were partially controlled landfills with open dumping practices predominating. In such inferior conditions the implementation of sanitary landfill is not necessarily appropriate. The controlled landfill is a more appropriate solution as it offers lower investment and operational costs, makes the selection of a new landfill site unnecessary and can operate with a minimum standard of infrastructure and equipment. The sustainability of future landfill capacity can be maintained by utilizing the old landfill as a profit-oriented landfill by implementing a landfill gas management or a clean development mechanism project. A collection fee system using the pay-as-you-throw principle could increase the waste income thereby financing municipal solid waste management.

Pujon Kidul and Bangelan villages (Indonesia) are two tourist villages that have succeeded in developing agricultural potential associated with tourism activities. The characteristics of Pujon Kidul Village and Bangelan Village refer to the tourism activities in the villages. This study aims to find out how community social capital can influence collective action in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in Pujon Kidul Tourism Village and Bangelan Tourism Village. This study uses the structural equation model (SEM) method, which is applied to the SEM, PLS (Partial Least Square) and AMOS (Analysis of Moment Structures) software to get complete results. The results of the analysis, Bangelan Village and Pujon Kidul Village are models that can survive in a pandemic crisis situation. The results of the model show that social capital in dealing with a pandemic in Bangelan Village is most influenced by trust in the government, while in Pujon Kidul Village it is most influenced by trust among fellow communities. The existence of social capital plays a role in decision-making on collective actions to deal with pandemics in tourist villages. Thus, by knowing how the community is recovering during the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses can run smoothly and according to government policy.