Performance of Plastic Bottle Reinforced Soil

Use of plastic products such as polythene bags, bottles, containers and packing strips etc. is increasing day by day creating the disposal problem for the society. Attempts are therefore being made to utilize waste plastic bottles as geotechnical material to solve both geotechnical and environmental problem. This paper presents the results of detailed experimental study on the possible use of waste plastic bottles as soil reinforcement for bearing capacity improvement. Bearing capacity of square footing on sandy soil reinforced with waste plastic water bottles is evaluated and the effect of parameters like width of reinforcement (L/B ratio), number of layers of reinforcement (N) and spacing between reinforcing layers is studied through model plate load tests. Results show that there is considerable increase in bearing capacity value with the provision of plastic bottles as reinforcement.