Review on performance of geosynthetic liners in municipal solid waste landfills

Abstract

Considerable development has taken place in the area of geosynthetics and their applications since their first use in 1980s in the construction of safe containment of hazardous wastes. Geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) and High density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane (GM) liners are widely used in municipal solid waste landfills as a barrier system on the base of the landfill. Satisfactory performance of geosynthetic materials when buried under soil depends on several factors. Geosyntetic liners are subjected to degradation by variation in temperatures or settling of landfills or they will be disintegrated by leachate. Several studies on monitored landfills have shown that geosynthetic liners in municipal solid waste landfills have performed extremely well at controlling leakage in field applications for a couple of decades. However, there have also been some problems reported on the very long term performance these materials. To ensure that long-term contamination does not occur, it is important that the durability of GCL and GM is maintained over the contaminating lifespan of the landfill. Some of the factors that influence very long term performance of GCL/GM/composite liners are particle size, strength and initial water content of subgrade soil, desiccation, the effect of daily thermal cycles etc. This paper examines some of these factors and the mechanisms of performance of geosynthetic liners were reviewed in order to supply reference to the study in this field.