Transforming dumps into gold mines. Experiences from Swedish case studies

This article discusses the transformation of landfills from dumps to an alchemist's dream – gold mines – by highlighting five Swedish case studies where the landfill has been extracted. It is shown that landfills are embedded in broader socio-technical systems, including technology, policies, culture, norms, markets, and networks. These artifacts have aligned into mutual dependencies under the notion that landfills are garbage dumps, which has entrapped the landfill in the prevailing “dump regime”. At the present time there is a window of opportunity to escape the “dump regime.” Dumps are being challenged by the circular economy, which has established instability in the regime. However, for landfills to transform into “gold mines” creative entrepreneurs with the capacity to understand the emergent properties of deposition – i.e. giving rise to a resource base – will be key. For further transformation, specialized mining actors, collaboration and further exogenous changes such as higher metal prices are necessary.

► We discuss the transformation of dumps to an alchemist's dream – gold mines.
► Landfills and their contents are locked in the prevailing “dump regime”.
► Creative leaders can transform landfills by convincing policy makers.
► Higher raw material prices may potentially unlock the inertia over time.
► Alchemy can be realized through socio-technical transformations.