Decomposition and settlement in landfilled waste and other soil-like materials Available to Purchase

The term ‘soil-like materials’ is used to refer to particulate materials that contain organic or other non-inert solids. When these materials decompose, there is a reduction in solid phase volume and an induced change in void phase volume, the combination of which has consequences for subsequent mechanical behaviour. In the case of landfilled waste, the mechanical consequences of biodegradation can be troublesome with long-term settlements ranging between 25% and 40% of original waste height (Bjarngard & Edgers, 1990; El-Fadel & Khoury, 2000). Up to half of this settlement has been attributed to biodegradation (Coduto & Huitric,...