Future project teams will consist of both humans and nonhumans as organizations’ internal and external landscapes are becoming more connected during the fourth Industrial Revolution. This paper explores the competencies project team members should require and what the impact is on the project management of these teams. The impact of Industry 4.0 is felt in various industries. Research on the impact of Industry 4.0 focuses mostly on future factories and the integration of technologies. Little or no research has been done on the impact of Industry 4.0 on project management or, for that matter, project teams. This paper focuses on the demands of Industry 4.0 to determine what future demands there will be on team members as well as the competencies that team members need to exhibit to cope with and meet these demands. The results imply that four categories of competencies are required of future project team members, in particular critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The composition of future project teams will also drastically change with the introduction of artificially intelligent robots as team members.

The 4th Industrial Revolution is challenging the ways we are working at all fronts. Its impact is felt in families, organisations and communities. The impact on organisations and particularly working environments is still largely an unknown. Part of the working environment entails the way project teams should be managed. Speed and agility are required to implement the various technologies that form the underlying basis of the 4th Industrial Revolution. This requires project teams and project managers to adjust their behaviour. This article focuses on the various leadership styles and those that are more appropriate for the implementation of these new technologies. A survey was conducted amongst South African project managers to determine their level of servant-leadership and 621 responses were analysed. The analysis focused on servant-leadership attributes. The results determined that five attributes of the servant-leadership style are important but that in general, South African project managers still focus on a ‘command and control’ type of leadership. The article contributes to the current debate on the best ways to manage project teams during the 4th Industrial Revolution. The jury is still out on the best working environment and the results indicate that a servant-leadership style is most appropriate but that project managers are not embracing this leadership style. This might have to do with training that they have had. Current project management best practices and competencies do not focus on this new way of working and organisations and project management bodies need to address this concern.

Despite the promotion of plastic recycling to sustainably manage plastic waste and advance the circular economy, existing plastic recycling systems globally are largely experiencing low performance and growth. To transition to world‐class plastic material recycling and circularity, defining the metrics that impact the performance of a plastic recycling system is crucial. Bringing together existing literature, this study developed a conceptual framework, comprised of eight key performance metrics, for benchmarking recycling success or assessing the degree to which the performance of any plastic recycling system is optimal. Through a value chain approach, the specific performance metrics relevant to each stage of the plastic recycling system, their objectives, and the actors characterizing the system were analyzed in detail. Also, specific maturity models were developed to measure the performance of any plastic recycling system. This framework provides essential knowledge for related stakeholders to inform further development of plastic recycling and a circular economy.