Characterisation of geomaterials and non-conventional waste streams for their reuse as engineered materials

Abstract

Reusing bulk volumes of waste material is a requirement often encountered in mining and construction activities involving excavations. Spoils produced from these activities typically show high variability in terms of properties and behaviour, due to the local geology, adopted excavation method and further spoil treatments. A procedure for classifying the spoil from tunnelling was proposed in order to correlate ground type, possible muck destination and treatment type. With a similar approach in industrial and related sectors, the reuse of non-conventional materials (i.e. wooden chips, fragments, granulates, micronized glass, residual out of shape from manufacturing processes or coming from selection of other waste) has a great relevance as it is accompanied by savings in disposal costs and in the sourcing of raw materials. Characterisation tests derived from geotechnical engineering can support the assessment of the physical and mechanical properties of non-conventional materials, creating a feedback loop encompassing raw material description, required treatments, and possible utilisations as engineered materials. This paper describes the possible screening tests and treatment options for material recycling in the framework of a modified spoil classification system.