Compressibility and shear strength behaviour of fresh and aged municipal solid wastes

Abstract

The effects of ageing on the compressibility and shear strength parameters of synthetic representative average municipal solid waste (MSW) compositions of Europe (E), Turkey (T) and the USA (U) were investigated in comparison with those of fresh samples. In addition to the synthetic fresh and aged samples, tests were conducted on natural fresh and aged MSW samples which had been collected from the Manisa landfill. The results have shown that the primary compression index ratio value of the fresh E sample is lower than that of the aged E sample, which has a higher content of paper and cardboard waste. As ageing progresses, the compression index ratio values of T and U samples increased. The results of the large-scale direct shear test present that aged samples have a higher angle of internal friction. In contrast, the cohesion values decrease as ageing progresses. The results have shown that the most important waste constituents affecting the primary compression index ratio of fresh and aged MSW samples are the kitchen and garden waste fraction and the paper and cardboard waste fraction.