The management of solid urban waste is one of the biggest problems currently faced by society and the economy. It can be considered a negative externality that arises as a consequence of the production and consumption processes of industry and society. This study consists of a bibliometric analysis to recognize the articles published and included in high-impact scientific journals, as well as a systematic review of the literature. We have collected 1897 research articles from the Scopus database that have been published between 1981 and 2021. We have identified the main subject areas, authors, institutions, and countries of these publications, as well as research trends in terms of resource management. Our findings show that since the 20th century, there has been quantitative and qualitative growth in this line of research, especially since 2006, and that four main trends have been defined: environment, society, technical aspects, and economic aspects. The economic field makes reference to the circular economy and its link to the objectives and sustainable development goals of the 2030 agenda, in which there is an important need to provide solutions to the problems generated as a consequence of the inadequate management of solid waste.

This research evaluated solid plastic waste in the residential and commercial sectors of Comayagua, Honduras, through a quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive study involving surveys of 414 households and 304 businesses. Plastic predominates in the residential sector (41.99% of inorganic waste), only 35.1% separate waste, and most depend on municipal collection; even so, more than 70% showed a willingness to change habits and receive training. In the commercial sector, 90.8% use single-use plastics and 84% lack a management plan, although 69% are willing to receive training. It is concluded that current management is insufficient, but there is a high willingness to change, which represents an opportunity to move toward more sustainable plastic waste management in Comayagua.