Effective waste management is a global challenge, but especially so on small and remote islands where resource flows are constrained by geography. This contribution provides a scoping review on scholarship surrounding island waste management systems over the last two decades. Scientific contributions are discussed according to four dominant themes in the literature: (1) limited capacity of islands in waste management and absorption, (2) ‘end-of-pipe’ solutions as the primary focus, (3) the social dimension of waste, and (4) socioeconomic drivers of island waste generation. We conclude by stating that current research on island waste and its management treats material outflows as ‘tame’ problems to be rationalized, economized, and solved, using various parameters. We find that for the most part, the literature does not acknowledge or address the root causes of waste-related problems, such as orienting island economies toward consumption-based development, and often lacks consideration of the ‘island context’ when it comes to rethinking strategic pathways for sustainable development. We propose the Socio-metabolic Research (SMR) framework for analyzing and tackling waste challenges on islands, as systemic approaches that link the biophysical with socioeconomic aspects are urgently needed.