Experimental Study on Soils Stabilized with Two Types of Plastic Waste
Abstract
The reuse and recycling rates for plastics are still below desirable values. The valorisation of plastic wastes that presently end in landfills or is incinerated can help to mitigate this environmental problem. There have been studies in soil improvement using plastic waste. Two types of plastic waste were used to assess their ability to improve soil properties for embankment construction and pavement layers. The selected plastic wastes are made from shredded package labels and ground bottles. The main properties of the soils were characterized. Three percentages of plastic waste were used, and the bearing capacity of the soil determined using CBR test (California Bearing Ratio). The results from the tests show that plastic waste stabilization leads to an increase in bearing capacity, expressed in CBR values, for low contents of plastic waste. This increase was more effective for high penetration values. Reduction in the bearing capacity was observed for higher plastic waste contents. Maximum dry unit weight decreased with increasing plastic waste content, whereas expansion increased with increasing plastic waste content.
Keywords: Soil stabilization, Plastic waste, CBR test, Compaction, Earthworks
References
[1] Eurostat (2016). Packaging waste statistics, European Commission (5/11/2016). https://ec.europa.eu/ eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Packaging_waste_statistics
[2] Plastics Europe (2017). Plastics – the Facts 2017: An analysis of European plastics production, demand and waste data. Brussels: Plastics Europe Association of Manufacturers.
[3] European Commission (2018). A European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy. Communication from the commission to the European parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Brussels: European Commission.
[4] Choudhary, A.K., Jha, J.N., and Gill, K.S (2010). A Study on CBR Behavior of Waste Plastic Strip Reinforced Soil. Emirates Journal of Engineering Research, vol. 15, pp 51-57.
[5] Nagle, R., Jain, R., and Shinghi, A. (2014). Comparative Study of CBR of Soil, Reinforced with Natural Waste Plastic Material. International Journal of Engineering & Science Research, vol. 4, issue 6, pp. 304-308.
[6] Babu, G. and Chouksey, S. (2011). Stress–strain response of plastic waste mixed soil. Waste Management, vol.31, issue 3, pp. 481–488.
[7] Rawat, P., and Kumar, A. (2016). Study of CBR Behaviour of Soil Reinforced with HDPE Strips, in Indian Proceedings of the Geotechnical Conference IGC 2016. Chennai: IIT Madras.
[8] Paramkusam, B., Prasad, A., and Arya, C. (2013). A Study on CBR Behavior of Waste Plastic (PET) on Stabilized Red Mud and Fly Ash. International Journal of Structural and Civil Engineering Research, vol, 2, issue 3, pp.232-240.
[9] Peddaiah, S., Burman, A., and Sreedeep S. (2018). Experimental Study on Effect of Waste Plastic Bottle Strips in Soil Improvement. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, vol. 36, pp. 2907-2920.
[10] Botero, E., Ossa, A., Sherwell, G. and Ovando-Shelley, E. (2015). Stress–strain behavior of a silty soil reinforced with polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Geotextiles and Geomembranes, vol. 43, issue 4, pp. 363-369.
[11] Abbaspour, M., Aflaki, E., and Nejad, F. M. (2019). Reuse of waste tire textile fibers as soil reinforcement. Journal of Cleaner Production, vol 207, pp. 1059-1071.
[12] Singh, J., Sonthwal, V., and Rattan, J. (2017). Review on Improvement of Engineering Properties of soil Using Waste Plastic Bottles Strips (Polyethylene Terephthalate). International Journal on Emerging Technologies, vol 8, issue 1, pp.1-4.
[13] Mahali, K. and Sinha, A. (2015). Utilization of stonedust with plastic waste for improving the subgrade in highway pavement construction. International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, vol. 4, issue 6, pp. 29-35.
[14] Kalliyath, J., Joy, J., Paul, J., et al (2016). Soil Stabilization Using Plastic Fibers. International Journal of Science Technology & Engineering, vol. 2, issue 12, pp.484-487.
[15] Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (1966). Soils. Particle-size analysis. Lisboa: LNEC.
[16] CEN (2004). Geotechnical Investigation and Testing—Laboratory Testing of Soil-Part 12: Determination of Atterberg Limits. CEN ISO/TS 17892-12, Brussels: European Committee for Standardization.
[17] Inspecção Geral dos Produtos Agrícolas e Industriais (IGPA.I) (1969). Determination of consistency limits. NP-143, Lisbon: IGPA.I.
[18] Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, Lisboa, (1967). Soils. Sand equivalent test. LNEC E 199, Lisboa: LNEC.
[19] Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR) (1990). Granulats. Essai au bleu de méthylêne. Méthode à la tache. NF P 18-592. France: AFNOR.
[20] American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) (2006). Standard Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes (Unified Soil Classification System). ASTM D 2487. USA: ASTM.
[21] American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) (2004). Standard Practice for Classification of Soils and Soil-Aggregate Mixtures for Highway Construction Purposes. ASTM D 3282, USA: ASTM.
[22] Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (1966). Soils. Compaction test. LNEC E 197. Lisboa: LNEC.
[23] Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (19667). Soils. Determination of the CBR. LNEC E 198. Lisboa: LNEC.