Utilization of Plastic Waste Polyethylene (PET) for reinforced subgrade

Department of Civil Engineering and Environmental, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: fikri.faris@ugm.ac.id

Abstract

Plastic waste is a serious problem for the survival of all creatures on Earth. Recycling is one solution to reduce the negative impact of environmental pollution caused by plastic waste. A lot of plastic waste that pollutes the Earth comes from plastic bottle waste (PET). There had been many studies that discussed the use of plastic bottle waste (PET); however, this research used the plastic bottle waste (PET) as a geocell for subgrade reinforcement. To this date, the use of plastic bottle waste as geocell is still rare. The main purpose of this study was to determine the effect of adding geocell of plastic bottle waste on the subgrade using a capping layer that had a low bearing capacity. This research was expected to reduce the impact of environmental pollution due to plastic bottle waste, and be an alternative solution for additional reinforcement in the capping layer. Therefore, it could increase the ultimate bearing capacity and reduce the thickness of the cover layer on subgrades that had a CBR value below 5%. The results of the analysis using the Plaxis program showed that the geocell from plastic bottle waste could be used to save the use of capping layer materials by up to 65%.