Dr. Marc Kalina is a Senior Lecturer in the SARChI Chair in Waste and Society at the University of the Western Cape. A sociologist and human geographer, his research focuses on waste management, informality, and social justice, particularly service delivery, constructions of “waste,” and the lives and livelihoods of waste pickers. His work examines how waste reflects inequality and transformation, and he combines policy-oriented and participatory research to promote inclusive waste governance, contributing to municipal strategy, EPR implementation, and circular economy dialogues. He has a PhD in Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and previously lectured at ETH Zurich, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and the Durban University of Technology.Professor Catherina Schenck holds the DSTI/NRF/CSIR Chair in Waste and Society at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Her research focuses on informality in the waste sector across the Global South, with particular emphasis on waste management in low-income and informal communities, environmental justice, and structural inequalities embedded in waste governance systems. She investigates the waste value chain as a site of economic opportunity, examining how income-generating possibilities can be created for marginalized waste workers. Her work is grounded in community-based and participatory methodologies and spans urban, peri-urban, and rural contexts across South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Professor Schenck has published widely in peer-reviewed journals, and her research informs both policy development and practice in inclusive urban waste governance.