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Effect of Discarded Plastic Waste as Stabilizer on Engineering Properties of

Cohesive Soil

Article · December 2017

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 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
[Link]
ISSN 2394 – 3386
Volume 4, Issue 12
December 2017

Effect of Discarded Plastic Waste as Stabilizer on Engineering

Properties of Cohesive Soil

Anand Kumar B.G1*,Vageesh H.P2

1
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Rashtreeya Vidyalaya college of Engineering,
Bengaluru, Karnataka (India)
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Rashtreeya Vidyalaya college of Engineering,
Bengaluru, Karnataka (India)

Abstract: The quantity of waste plastic is increasing every year and the disposal of the same is a very big problem in
cities like Bengaluru. Recycling ratio of the plastic wastes is low and many types of plastics are not suitable for
incineration process, It has become major concern attempts are being made to reuse the plastic wastes in each and every
field effectively. This study gives a simple and easy way of using plastic waste in civil engineering field as a material for
stabilization of soil. Stabilization of soil is an effective and reliable method for improvement of strength, stability and
bearing capacity of soils. Feasibility studies on mixing plastic waste mixture with cohesive soil (Black Cotton soil) BC
Soil at different mixing ratios (0, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2%) by weight of the soil. Maximum Dry Density (MDD), Optimum Moisture
Content (OMC), California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and shear strength parameters (cohesion C and angle of internal
friction Φ) of stabilized and unstabilized soil were examined. Results conclude that, there is significant improvement in
the strength of soil due to increase in angle of internal friction. However internal friction in the soil has improved but no
large variation in cohesion. MDD of soil increases up to 0.8 % of plastic waste as stabilizer, beyond which there is no
significant increase because of lesser specific gravity of plastic waste. Demand of water reduced as the plastic content
increased since it does not absorb moisture. CBR value increased by 0.4% of plastic waste as stabilizer. This could be
effective method of disposal of plastic waste with respect to environmental concern.
Key words: Environmental concern, Plastic waste, Cohesive soil, Stabilizer, Strength of soil.

1.0 Introduction: landfill site at Mandur on the outskirts of Bengaluru

city. Since plastic wastes are non biodegradable and
The stability of geotechnical structures like earthen
they remain for many years there is scope for reuse
slopes, earth retaining walls etc can be increased
as stabilizer..
with addition of tensile materials which are just
mixed into the soil. This technique is not new but
goes back to old era in which naturally available
fibers such as coconut fiber, straws, reeds and
fibrous timber were used for the purpose of
increasing tensile behaviour of soil [1]. The way in
which these tensile plastic wastes work is compared
with the manner in which plant and tree roots
provide stability to soil. Out of the basic things we
use daily, most of the materials are made up of
plastic. They are produced in huge quantities all
over the world which is around 250 million tonne
per year globally out of which nearly 12 Million
tonnes plastic products are used in India every year.
Some of the applications of plastics include films,
shopping and carry bags, fluid bottles, clothing,
wrapping materials, toys and industrial products, Figure 1 Figure showing landfill site of Waste
and some of building materials [2]. Figure 1 shows a Plastic (Mandur, Bengaluru City).

779 Anand Kumar B.G,Vageesh H.P

 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
[Link]
ISSN 2394 – 3386
Volume 4, Issue 12
December 2017

1.1 Background of research work: Soil

stabilization can be adopted on earthen bunds,
retaining walls, highway embankments, soil under
the footing and layers of sub grade. Stabilization of
soil using fibers was first explained by Henri Vidal
in 1966 [4] which includes introduction of tensile
materials into soil mass to improve its strength
behaviors like stability, increased bearing capacity
and reduced lateral deformation. Technically,
tensile strength of soil is negligible whereas it has
comparatively higher compressive strength which is
limited by shear resistance of soil.
1.2 Hypothesis: Large amount of plastic waste is
produced in metropolitan cities like Bengaluru and
there is a greater need to find new methods for Figure 2: Discarded plastic waste, sliced into pieces
either re use or disposal. Soil stabilization is one of
the methods in Civil engineering field where plastic
wastes can be used. Hence more emphasis is given 2.0 Methodology: Diagrammatic representation of
on reuse discarded plastic as stabilizer and to brief methodology of the present study is depicted
improve tensile behaviour, Shear strength of soil. in Figure 3.
1.3 Plastic Waste: The exponential increase in use
of one time usable plastic material in day to day life
is producing large volumes of plastic waste all over
the world. Since they are used for shorter duration,
they quickly reach waste stream. Therefore their
disposal becomes challenging job for local
government bodies like Bruhat Bengaluru
Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and other bodies all
over the world. Usually some amount of these
plastic wastes is recycled and the remaining waste is
incinerated to get thermal energy. At last the
remaining waste is disposed off in landfills and it
requires large areas of land.
In the present study plastic waste was collected
from KK Plastic Waste Management Ltd,
Kanakapura road, Bengaluru. The plastic waste is Figure 3: Methodology of research work
shredded into small pieces by special machine
cutters. This plastic waste is a mixture of all types
of plastics like polythene bags, cups, sheet plastics, 3.0 Experimental Studies The experimental studies
sachets of shampoo, chocolate, biscuits, pan masala are required in order to know the effect of addition
etc. that reach municipal waste stream. This mixture of waste plastic on index and engineering properties
is shown in Figure 2. The plastic waste collected of the soils. In the present study investigations are
has a fusion point of 1650 C as data provided by KK made according to standard procedure as per IS-
plastic Waste management. It was also found to be 2720. Waste plastic is added to the soil in dry
good for soil stabilization by visual observation and condition, mixed thoroughly to get uniform mixture.
also with reference to exhaustive survey of Then the required water is added and mixed well,
literature on plastic. and then the samples are prepared and tested. Table
1 shows the tests conducted on soil samples before
and after addition of plastic waste. There physical
properties are shown in table 2.

780 Anand Kumar B.G,Vageesh H.P

 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
[Link]
ISSN 2394 – 3386
Volume 4, Issue 12
December 2017

Table 1: Various tests conducted on Soil samples Table: 3 Variations of MDD and OMC
% % Voi Porosit
%
MD Variatio Variatio d y
Sl Plasti OMC
Tests conducted No c
D n
%
n rati
o
%
g/cc in MDD in OMC
waste
Virgin soil (BC Soil) Stabilized Soil e
- - 0.65 39.4
1) Specific Gravity of 1) Standard Compaction 1 0 1.46 28.2

soil test 2 0.4 1.50 2.52 20.5 -27.3 0.61 37.88

2) Natural Moisture 2) Direct shear test 3 0.8 1.49 1.98 21.6 -23.4 0.62 38.27

Content 3) CBR test 4 1.2 1.48 0.88 24.4 -13.47 0.64 39.02

3) Grain size 4) UCC test

distribution
(with 0.4%,0.8%,1.2%
4) Atterberg limits waste plastic)
5) Standard Compaction
test
6) Direct Shear test
7) CBR test
8) UCS test
Table 2: Physical Properties of Soil
Sl Property Black cotton soil
No Cohesive soil
1 Specific Gravity 2.43
2 Moisture content 13.60%
Figure 4: MDD and OMC for various
3 Particle size distribution concentration of plastic waste.
(a) Gravel - 3.2 Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) test
(b) Sand 8.3% on Black cotton soil: UCS test is carried out on
(c) Silt and Clay black cotton soil with increasing percentage of
91.7%
plastic waste. The variation of UCS strength of
4 Liquid limit 47%
black cotton soil with increase in plastic waste
5 Plastic Limit 33.33% content is shown in Table 4.
6 Plasticity Index 13.7% Table 4: UCS of soil after addition of plastic waste
7 IS classification of soil ML/OL %
Plastic UCC
Sl strength Increase
concentration
3.1 Standard Proctor test on Black cotton soil No in
% N/ sq cm
Variation of MDD and OMC with plastic waste UCS
concentration for Black cotton soil which shows 1 0 8.55 -
that as the plastic waste concentration is increased
MDD increases initially but later decreases due to 2 0.4 9 5.26
low specific gravity of plastic material. Variation 3 0.8 9.533 11.5
of OMC is not linear with increase in plastic 4 1.2 10.187 19.146
concentration. Table 3 Variation of MDD and OMC
Stress Vs deformation curves for Black cotton soil
with plastic concentration for Black Cotton Soil
with varying concentrations of plastic waste which
along with void ratio and porosity. Figure 4 shows
shows that there is an increase in unconfined
the compaction curves for sandy soil sample with
compression strength of soil with increase in plastic
varying percentage of plastic waste which shows
waste as shown in Figure 5.
shift in curves towards left side.

781 Anand Kumar B.G,Vageesh H.P

 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
[Link]
ISSN 2394 – 3386
Volume 4, Issue 12
December 2017

Table: 5 Load values for BC soil with varying

plastic concentration in CBR test
Penetration Load Load Load Load
mm values values values values
(soil+0% (soil+0.4% (soil+0.8% (soil+1.2%
plastic) plastic) kg plastic) kg plastic) kg
kg
0.5 5.28 7.92 5.28 5.28
1 7.92 13.2 7.92 10.56
1.5 10.56 15.84 13.2 13.2
2 13.2 18.48 15.84 15.84
2.5 15.84 21.12 21.12 21.12
5 29.04 34.32 34.32 42.24
7.5 39.6 42.24 44.88 55.44
10 50.16 47.52 52.8 66
12.5 58.08 52.8 58.08 73.92

Figure:7 shows the load Vs penetration curves for

black cotton soil samples with varying
Figure 5: Stress Vs Deformation of soil concentrations of plastic waste which shows that
there is an increase in CBR value of soil for 0.4%
Unconfined compression strength of soil with plastic waste but with further increase in plastic
increase in plastic concentration as shown in Figure waste there is no increase in CBR of soil.
6.

Figure: 7 Load Vs penetration curve for BC Soil

Figure 6: UCS of BC Soil for various plastic for various plastic concentrations
concentrations
Table: 6 shows values of CBR for Black cotton soil
3.3 CBR test on Black cotton soil: CBR test is for different plastic concentration which shows that
carried out on Black cotton soil with increasing there is an increase in CBR value for 0.4% plastic
percentage of plastic waste. Table 5 shows load waste but there is no further significant increase in
values for increasing depth of penetration during CBR value at 2.5mm penetration with increase in
CBR test for Black cotton soil with varying plastic waste. For 5mm penetration there is increase
concentration of plastic waste. in CBR value up to 1.2% plastic waste.

782 Anand Kumar B.G,Vageesh H.P

 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
[Link]
ISSN 2394 – 3386
Volume 4, Issue 12
December 2017

Table :6 Variation of CBR value of BC soil with 3.4 Direct shear test on Black cotton soil: Direct
plastic concentration. shear test is carried out on Black cotton soil with
increasing percentage of plastic waste. Table 7
CBR %
CBR Value Value Increa
shows Maximum shear stress values for increasing
Plastic %
Sl concent (At 2.5mm Increas (At 5mm se normal stress during Direct shear test for Black
no ration penetration) e penetratio (5mm) cotton soil with varying concentration of plastic
% % (2.5mm) n) waste.
%
Table 7 Maximum shear stress values for
1 0 1.16 - 1.41 - increasing normal stress for Black cotton soil with
2 0.4 1.54 32.76 1.67 18.44 increasing concentration of plastic waste
3 0.8 1.54 32.76 1.67 18.44 Max Max Max Max
shear shear shear shear
4 1.2 1.54 32.76 2.055 45.74
Sl stress stress stress stress
Figure 8 shows values of CBR at 2.5mm no Normal N/cm² N/cm² N/cm² N/cm²
penetration for Black cotton soil for different plastic stress ( 0% ( 0.4% ( 0.8% ( 1.2%
concentration which shows that there is an increase N/cm² plastic) plastic) plastic) plastic)
in CBR value for 0.4% plastic waste but there is no 1 5 5.56 8.35 9.59 11.28
further significant increase in CBR value at 2.5mm 2 10 6.07 11.44 11.35 13.43
penetration with increase in plastic waste. Figure 9 3 15 6.38 12.28 12.74 13.82
shows values of CBR at 5mm penetration for Black Figure :10 shows the curves of Maximum shear
cotton soil for different plastic concentration which stress Vs normal stress for black cotton soil samples
shows that there is an increase in CBR value with with varying concentrations of plastic waste which
increase in plastic waste, highest being at 1.2% shows that there is an increase in angle of internal
plastic waste. friction (Φ) with increase in plastic waste but as the
plastic concentration is increased there is also an
increase in value of cohesion (C).

Figure :8 CBR at 2.5 mm penetration for % plastic

concentration

Figure10: Max shear stress Vs normal stress curves

for BC soil with plastic waste concentration
Table 8 shows values of Angle of internal friction
(Φ) and Cohesion (C) for Black cotton soil for
different plastic concentration which shows that
there is an increase in friction angle (Φ) value and
Cohesion (C) value with increase in plastic waste.
Maximum increase in friction angle (Φ) value is at
0.4% plastic content for Black cotton soil.
Figure 9: CBR at 5 mm penetration for % plastic
concentration

783 Anand Kumar B.G,Vageesh H.P

 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
[Link]
ISSN 2394 – 3386
Volume 4, Issue 12
December 2017

Table 8: Variation of Φ and C value for BC with

plastic concentration
Angle % Cohesion %
Plastic of C
Sl Variation Variation
concentration internal
no in In in
% friction
Φº Φ N/cm² C

1 0 12º - 4.6 -
66.67 6.8 47.82
2 0.4
20º
33.33 8.4 82.6
3 0.8
16º
16.67 10.2 121.74 CBR Test on cast sample
4 1.2
14º 3) Direct shear test results on Black cotton soil
stabilized with plastic waste have been presented in
4.0 Effect of plastic waste on strength properties Table 7. It was found that the internal friction
of Black cotton soil increased with increase in plastic waste (for 0.4%)
due to increase in friction with addition of plastic.
1) From the Standard Compaction test results on
Highest value of angle of internal friction of 20º
Black cotton soil stabilized with plastic waste
was obtained when soil was mixed with 0.4%
(Table 3) it was found that the MDD increased with
plastic waste. But for further increase in plastic
increase in plastic waste (for 0.4%) due to increase
waste (at 0.8% and 1.2%) internal friction angle
in internal friction of soil due to presence of plastic
reduced due to increase in surface area of plastic
waste. But for further increase in plastic waste (at
waste which causes shear deformation of the soil
0.8% and 1.2%) MDD and OMC reduced due to
easily and reduces the shear strength of soil. Also it
lower specific gravity of plastic waste which
was found that as plastic waste is increased there
reduces the shear strength of soil. Highest MDD of
was significant increase in cohesion (C) value of
1.504 g/cc at OMC of 20.5% was obtained when the
soil.
soil was mixed with 0.8% plastic waste.

Mixing Plastic waste

Direct Shear test, test sample
2) California bearing ratio test results on Black
4) Unconfined compressive strength test results
cotton soil stabilized with plastic waste mixes have
of Black cotton soil stabilized with plastic waste
been presented in Table 6 . It was found that there
mixes have been presented in Table 4 . UCS
was an increase in CBR value with 0.4% plastic
specimens were prepared for the above mentioned
waste. But for further increase in plastic waste (at
combination of stabilization. It was found that there
0.8% and 1.2%) CBR value reduced due to lower
was linear increase in UCS of soil with increase in
specific gravity of plastic waste which reduces the
plastic waste concentration due to increase in
shear strength of soil. Highest CBR value of 1.54%
internal friction with addition of plastic waste.
was obtained at0.4%. CBR values at 5mm
Highest UCS value of 10.187 N/cm² was obtained
penetration showed nonlinear variations but there is
when the soil was mixed with 1.2% plastic waste.
significant increase (45.74% increase) in CBR at
5mm penetration for 1.2% plastic waste.

784 Anand Kumar B.G,Vageesh H.P

 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
[Link]
ISSN 2394 – 3386
Volume 4, Issue 12
December 2017

2. Effect of soil stabilization using plastic waste on

cohesion and angle of internal friction of soil
through tri-axial test needs to be studied.
3. Effect of soil stabilization with plastic waste
should be studied for its fatigue behaviour.
4. Use of plastic waste for stabilization of other type
of soils like shady soil, Poorly graded soil etc needs
to be studied.
5. Use of other forms of plastic waste (like crushed
UCS Sample and failure pattern bottle waste) in different way for soil stabilization
needs to be studied.
5.0 Conclusions
1) Addition of plastic waste by 0.4% by weight of References :
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785 Anand Kumar B.G,Vageesh H.P

 International Journal of Engineering Technology Science and Research
IJETSR
[Link]
ISSN 2394 – 3386
Volume 4, Issue 12
December 2017

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