Industry 5.0 in Waste Management: Uncovering the Dynamic Capabilities Behind the Transition

Industry 5.0 represents a transformative paradigm that addresses disruptive megatrends by calling for a human-centred approach and sustainability orientation. Despite growing academic interest, little is known about how organisations are transitioning towards this innovative strategical posture, particularly in the service businesses. The study addresses this gap by investigating the dynamic capabilities that waste management organisations must activate to undertake the aforemen-tioned transition. Drawing on the Dynamic Capabilities Theory and a qualitative multiple-case study conducted on three Italian waste management firms, data were collected through 18 semi-structured interviews and archival sources and analysed by using the Gioia methodology. The results reveal three aggregate dimensions of capability such as: Waste Ecosystem Scanning Capability; People-Technology Or-chestration Capability; Smart Waste Cycle Reconfiguration Capability. All togeth-er, these capabilities constitute an integrated architecture through which organisa-tions perceive environmental complexity, orchestrate technological and human re-sources, and reconfigure their strategic, operational, and relational processes.