THE USE OF WASTE PLASTIC STRIPS IN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING APPLICATION

A detailed experimental program was conducted to investigate some geotechnical properties of waste plastic strip-clay mixtures. In this manner, three different types of clays were used. Clays of three different origins, namely, a kaolinite, a sepiolite and a bentonite type of clay were used. Ten different mixture ratios of waste plastic strips were used. The samples were prepared by mixing clays at various proportions by waste plastic strip (from 0% to 10 % with steps of 1%, by weight), and then tested. Firstly, the variation of optimum water content and maximum dry density of the clays with change in waste plastic strip content was investigated. The study reveals that addition of waste plastic strip in clay resulted in an appreciable increase in the maximum dry density and decrease the optimum water content. Secondly to demonstrate the influence of waste plastic strip on the three different type of clay, an intensive series of fall cone tests were carried out on the samples. The reinforcement benefit increased with an increase in waste plastic strip content. The benefit of adding waste plastic strips does not improve the compaction properties appreciably. The material can be used in base courses in constructing rural roads over clay soils, thereby leading to safe disposal of these waste materials in an environmentally friendly manner.