Sustainability of sanitary landfill management in sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Ghana

Abstract

Investigations were conducted over a twelve-month period in 3 years on the operational strategy of the larger of the only two sanitary landfills and leachate treatment ponds in Ghana and sub-Sahara Africa. The purpose was to examine and evaluate the sanitary landfill and leachate stabilisation ponds against the backdrop of technically sound and sustainable management options. Routine operational observations, interviews and analytical examination of samples from the site call for a management classification of the sanitary landfill and associated stabilisation ponds as semi-controlled. While treatment efficiency within the various ponds is high, most parameters ( do not meet the effluent requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ghana, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for discharge of treated leachate and blackwater into river bodies. The success of the management of the Kumasi Sanitary landfill and future landfills calls for sound planning and administration of the entire solid waste management system in the country and the sub-region. The management system must be based on integrated and sustainable principles that can deliver environmental, social and economic stability. It must begin with the appreciation of solid waste as a resource from which management cost can be recovered. The system must be funded innovatively according to the needs of the system and coordinated to protect human health and the environment. In all circumstances, practitioners and stakeholders in countries with developing economies must appreciate and comprehend existing waste management issues and find indigenous solutions that are appropriate to specific local situations