On a bright veranda surrounded by Lowveld trees at the Wits Rural Campus on 7 August 2025, a traditional leader, a social science professor and a young activist engaged in a vibrant discussion about waste and the lack of waste management services in rural Bushbuckridge. Though they came from very different worlds, they soon realised they were all speaking about the same urgent challenge – how to turn this environmental and social issue into opportunities by unlocking value from what is typically considered just “trash”.