Using Recycled Material from the Paper Industry as a Backfill Material for Retaining Walls near Railway Lines

Karmen Fifer Bizjak, Barbara Likar and Stanislav Lenart
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Karmen Fifer Bizjak: Department of Geotechnics and Traffic Infrastructure, Slovenian Building and Civil Engineering Institute, ZAG, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Barbara Likar: Department of Geotechnics and Traffic Infrastructure, Slovenian Building and Civil Engineering Institute, ZAG, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Stanislav Lenart: Department of Geotechnics and Traffic Infrastructure, Slovenian Building and Civil Engineering Institute, ZAG, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: The construction industry uses a large amount of natural virgin material for different geotechnical structures. In Europe alone, 11 million tonnes of solid waste is generated per year as a result of the production of almost 100 million tonnes of paper. The objective of this research is to develop a new geotechnical composite from residues of the deinking paper industry and to present its practical application, e.g., as a backfill material behind a retaining structure. After different mixtures were tested in a laboratory, the technology was validated by building a pilot retaining wall structure in a landslide region near a railway line. It was confirmed that a composite with 30% deinking sludge and 70% deinking sludge ash had a high enough strength but experienced some deformations before failure. Special attention was paid to the impact of transport, which, due to the time lag between the mixing and installation of the composite, significantly reduced its strength. The pilot retaining wall structure promotes the use of recycled materials with a sustainable design, while adhering to government-mandated measures.

Keywords: paper sludge ash; deinking sludge; paper industry; backfill material; retaining wall (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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