Waste management has been considered an antecedent of delivering environmental sustainability. However, the present conventional waste management approaches have several difficulties in addressing the significance of effectively managing solid waste to avoid health and environmental problems. Therefore, the present research aims to identify intelligent approaches to tackle the issue of managing solid waste. The present study conducts a systematic literature review through bibliometric and content analysis of 226 relevant articles using the Scopus database. The findings from the descriptive bibliometric analysis highlight the year-by-year publication trend, significant publication sources, affiliation statistics of various institutions, and an analysis of the corresponding author’s nation. Furthermore, the content analysis offers three clusters based on artificial intelligence, machine learning techniques, and the Internet of Things. Also, based on the findings, the article provides a research framework to offer a thorough understanding of the use of different intelligent approaches in managing solid waste. This present research offers a thorough understanding of the impact of different intelligent approaches in managing solid waste. Also, the given research framework summarises and highlights how intelligent approaches are managing solid waste and what will be the possible outcome in doing so.