Waste worlds and why multidisciplinary and are so elusive: lessons from managing integrated approaches to waste in fast-growing cities

This introduction explores the challenges of integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) when managing ever-increasing volumes of garbage in fast growing cities. It brings together diverse perspectives and approaches from engineers and planners who view the collection and disposal of waste through a technical or managerial lens, and social scientists who are concerned with the cultural significance of waste and the social relations and hierarchies involved in its production, disposal, retrieval, and reuse. The articles explore the reasons for limits on the success of ISWM while demonstrating real-life examples of successful outcomes informed by multidisciplinary understandings, arguing that while ISWM requires a firm understanding of technology and urban planning, it also demands recognition of the complex social relations underpinning how people engage with urban services and the materiality of waste. It concludes that solid waste management is not simply about governance but is also inherently political.