RE-THINKING LANDFILLS AS ASSET: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM URBAN GHANA

Abstract

Within the literature, landfills are often described as locally undesirable land use (lulu) facilities that impose negative externalities on neighbourhoods through noise, odours, flies, mosquitoes and other insects. They are assumed to depress nearby properties and are associated with emissions of methane and leachate which have implications on climate change and water quality respectively. In the meantime, landfills can also be a catalyst for the development of a society but this is often poorly understood. This study disentangles the poorly understood relationship between landfills and economic development. Using empirical data from three landfill communities from Kumasi where unchecked and rapid urbanization has engineered urban poverty, I argue that landfills can also play out differently as a vibrant entrepreneurial part of the urban economy. When they are properly nurtured, regularized and managed, they can potentiate economic growth, job creation and a reduction in extreme poverty of the host communities. This therefore calls for a reconfiguration of our understanding of landfills development and management