Use of Waste Tire Chips as Medium in Drainage Layer of Landfill Liner Systems

Abstract

Waste tires chips have high potential for many uses. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of using waste tire chips as medium in drainage layer of landfill liner systems. Three different shapes of tire chips, which were wide strip, narrow strip and chunk tire chips, were used in this study. Hydraulic conductivity tests were performed for the samples subjected to different confining stresses. It was found that, at no confining stress, the hydraulic conductivity of all 3 shapes of tire chip samples were higher than the recommended value for using as medium in the drainage layer. When subjected to confining stress, tire chips would be deformed and compressed resulting in the reduction of its void ratio as well as its hydraulic conductivity. The hydraulic conductivity test results of the tire chips subjected to 80 kPa confining stress were 7.74×10^-5 m/s, 3.45×10^-4 m/s and 9.95×10^-4 m/s for the wide strip, narrow strip and crumb tire chip samples, respectively. The least variation of hydraulic conductivity, when subjected to confining stress, was obtained for the chunk tire chip samples, therefore, it is the most preferred for using as medium in drainage layer of liner systems.