Title: A comparative study on the effect of polyethylene plastic waste on sandy soils

Authors: Rupanjan Chakraborty; Rakesh Barman; Sarbajit Bhattacharyya; Kuntal Das

Addresses: Department of Civil Engineering, Assam Engineering College, Jalukbari, Guwahati, Assam, PIN-781013, India ' Department of Civil Engineering, Assam Engineering College, Jalukbari, Guwahati, Assam, PIN-781013, India ' Department of Civil Engineering, Assam Engineering College, Jalukbari, Guwahati, Assam, PIN-781013, India ' Department of Civil Engineering, Assam Engineering College, Jalukbari, Guwahati, Assam, PIN-781013, India

Abstract: Plastic pollution is one of the major global issues. Engineering measures are being undertaken to harness the non-biodegradability of plastic by converting it to a vital part of built environment. A comparative study is undertaken to evaluate the effects of the waste plastic (polyethylene) on the geotechnical properties of two locally available sands viz. Brahmaputra sand and Kulsi sand by conducting a series of direct shear tests on the two sand samples reinforced with polyethylene plastic strips. The effect of varying concentration of plastics (0.10%, 0.20%, 0.30%, 0.45%, 0.60%, 0.70% and 0.75% by weight of the sand) using different dimensions of the plastic strips is investigated. The polyethylene plastic strips' length varied from 15 mm to 45 mm and width varied from 5 mm to 15 mm. The shear strength parameters which are obtained ultimately for the composite specimens on which analysis have been done, positively reflect soil improvement due to the inclusion of polyethylene plastic waste.

Keywords: plastic pollution; polyethylene shopping bags; soil improvement; direct shear test; shear strength; sustainable development; environment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESD.2018.089276

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2018 Vol.17 No.1, pp.56 - 69

Received: 06 Oct 2016
Accepted: 11 Jun 2017
Published online: 11 Jan 2018 *

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