Sustainable Landfill Mining Management: A Systematic Literature Review of Potential, Challenges, Evaluation Methods, and Strategy

Abstract

This study synthesizes conceptual and empirical evidence on the management of sustainable landfill mining and develops an integrated framework that links resource potential, implementation challenges, evaluation methods, and management strategy. Using a Systematic Literature Review guided by the PRISMA 2020 protocol, the review examined peer-reviewed articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science published between 2012 and 2025, retrieved through Boolean search strategies built around landfill mining, resource recovery, circular economy, sustainable waste management, evaluation methods, and management strategy. Following a staged identification, screening, and eligibility process, 41 articles met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed through a structured extraction matrix and narrative-thematic synthesis. The findings reveal four interrelated dimensions of sustainable landfill mining management: potential (material, energy, land, economic, social, and environmental recovery); challenges (technical, economic, environmental, social, and institutional); evaluation methods (LCA, LCC, CBA, GIS, MCDA, AHP, fuzzy, and DSS); and strategy (circular economy integration, resource recovery, technology selection, and governance and policy). Grounded in Environmental Concept Theory as a grand theory and Stakeholder Theory as a supporting theory, the review proposes a conceptual Management of Sustainable Landfill Mining System (M-HMS) framework, in which strategy operates as the integrative mechanism that translates potential, challenges, and evaluation into sustainable management outcomes. The framework offers theoretical, practical, and policy contributions for managing legacy waste as an anthropogenic resource stock, particularly in tropical developing countries such as Indonesia.