Wasted Plastic Polypropylene Fibers as Gypseous Soil Stabilizer

Polypropylene plastic bags are commonly utilized for shopping or storage due to their most advantageous feature of having a lower volume and being lightweight. The majority of these plastics are produced especially for one-time use, have a short lifespan, and are thrown away shortly thereafter. The amount of plastic now recycled or reused represents a relatively small portion of the total amount generated. Therefore, finding methods for recycling plastic waste is crucial for achieving sustainability and reducing environmental damage. Research and efforts have been performed to show the potential of recycled plastic wastes as a soil reinforcement technique. A few studies were produced for improving gypseous soil properties with plastic waste. Strips of the waste plastic bags were mixed with gypseous soil samples at a rate of (0, 2, 4, and 8%) relative to dry sample weight, respectively, to research the impact of these additions on the strength properties and collapse potential values of gypseous soil. The testing program included a series of direct shear tests, and single oedometer tests were conducted on gypseous soil samples with 60% gypsum content. The polypropylene plastic waste was used in this research to encourage sustainability and enhance the geotechnical properties of gypseous soil by achieving an improvement of gypseous soil properties. Results stated that reinforcing gypseous soil with plastic waste enhanced the geotechnical properties and reduced the collapse of the samples.