Boon or bane? Examining the impact of the Payatas sanitary landfill closure on former scavengers in the Philippines

Abstract

ABSTRACT Urban waste management, including that of sanitary landfills, is an urgent matter worldwide. Scavengers at sanitary landfill sites face safety and health issues. Their human rights are often violated through social oppression, dehumanization, and exploitation. Numerous landfills have been closed by governments to address these issues. Although these closures may have brought safer, cleaner, and more equitable living environments, in some cases, the low incomes and living standards of former scavengers who continue to reside at these sites have been exacerbated. That is, there may exist different perspectives of justices for respective stakeholders (e.g., government officials and scavengers). Based on the foundation of urban social justice and the capabilities approach as a theoretical framework, and using observations and interviews, this case study examines and addresses the socioeconomic complications faced by the local residents in the post-landfill situation of Payatas in the Philippines in an attempt to work toward establishing a just city.