--- title: "Geosynthetics, the way forward for Sustainable Waste Management" date: 2020-12-21 author: "Pawan Khatri" url: https://oceangeosynthetics.com/geosynthetics-the-way-forward-for-sustainable-waste-management/ --- December 21, 2020 | [Geosynthetics](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/category/geosynthetics/), [Insights](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/category/insights/) # Geosynthetics, the way forward for Sustainable Waste Management About fifty years back, [waste management](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/suitable_sectors/waste-management/) looked very different. Plastics were far less common, and most other waste could be recycled, composted or burnt. Today waste is more varied and more hazardous, the risk to soil and groundwater is better understood, and waste regulations are much stricter. Geosynthetics are now a standard part of how landfills and waste sites meet those rules. Geosynthetics have been part of civil and environmental engineering for more than three decades, in uses as different as containing aggressive chemicals, building mechanically stabilised earth walls and working in harsh climates. Their range of applications keeps growing. Waste management is one of the largest of those applications. Geosynthetics in a waste facility perform six functions: separation, filtration, reinforcement, barrier, protection and drainage. The table below shows which products do which job. **Waste Management with Geosynthetics:** | Geosynthetic Type | Function | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | Nonwoven and woven geotextiles, and [geocomposites](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/products/geo-composites/) | Separation | Placed between two dissimilar materials so they do not mix, keeping the integrity and function of both. | | Nonwoven and woven geotextiles, geocomposites. | Filtration | Let water or gas flow through while holding back fine particles. | | Woven geotextiles, geocomposites, geogrids, and geocells. | Reinforcement | Add tensile strength and stability to materials that lack it, such as slopes of waste or soft cover soils. | | Geomembranes and [geosynthetic clay liners](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/products/geosynthetics-clay-liner/). | Barrier, hydraulic and gas | Very low permeability; they contain liquids and gases. | | Nonwoven geotextiles and geocomposites. | Protection | Cushion a geomembrane against puncture while overlying materials are placed and in service. | | Nonwoven geotextiles, geocomposites, geopipe, and geonets. | Drainage | Carry water, leachate or gas along their plane or through a pipe to a collection point. | **Landfill Lining Solutions:** Leachate from [landfills](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/solution/environment-dewatering-landfills/) can be hazardous, and as waste volumes rise, so does the risk of groundwater contamination. Geosynthetic clay liners, geocomposites and geomembranes form the lining systems at municipal solid waste landfills, bioreactor landfills, construction and demolition debris sites, industrial hazardous waste landfills and nuclear waste facilities. A typical composite liner is an HDPE geomembrane over a GCL or compacted clay, with a protection geotextile above it. Ocean supplied a [Geosynthetic Clay Liner 6 MM for a landfill project in Odisha](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/geosynthetic-clay-liner/). **Leachate drainage systems:** Drainage geocomposites and geonets have the strength, chemical resistance, durability and low creep that a leachate drainage layer needs, and they are a cost-effective alternative to thick layers of drainage gravel. **Capping systems:** Every landfill needs a cap to keep rainwater out and stop landfill gas escaping into the air. Geosynthetic clay liners and drainage geocomposites are widely used in caps: the GCL forms the barrier, and the geocomposite drains rainwater off the cap and collects and conveys gas beneath it. **Gas collection systems:** In the cap, a geonet or drainage geocomposite under the barrier layer collects the gas produced as waste decomposes and carries it to vents or extraction wells, so gas pressure cannot build up under the liner and lift or rupture it. **Dewatering:** Geotube dewatering uses durable geotextile tubes that filter and retain solids, and is used to dewater sediment from site runoff, sludge and wastewater. The slurry is dosed with flocculants and pumped into the permeable tube; the water drains out through the geotextile pores under the pumping pressure while the solids stay inside. The filtrate can be treated and returned to waterways, and the dried solids reused or disposed of. ***Ocean Geosynthetics works with clients on waste containment systems designed to meet regulatory guidelines, supplying geomembranes, GCLs, geotextiles and drainage geocomposites for landfills and waste sites.*** ***[Drop us a call to discuss.](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/contact/)*** Get Ocean Geosynthetics in your Google feed[![](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/google-g-logo.svg)Add us as a preferred source on Google](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=https://oceangeosynthetics.com/) [![](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Environment-Dewatering-Landfills-300x200.webp)](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/landscaping-watering-ocean-geotextiles/) [Case Studies](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/category/case-studies/) [Case Study: Enhancing Landscaping & Watering Solutions with Ocean Non Woven Geotextiles in Aurangabad](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/landscaping-watering-ocean-geotextiles/) For a landscaping and watering project in Aurangabad (now Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), Maharashtra, Ocean Non Wovens supplied and installed 10,000 square metres of Ocean Non Woven… [See More](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/landscaping-watering-ocean-geotextiles/) [![NHAI Project in Raebareli, UP A Case Study on the Use of Ocean Geogrid-20Kn PP](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/NHAI-Project-in-Raebareli-UP-A-Case-Study-on-the-Use-of-Ocean-Geogrid-20Kn-PP-300x200.webp)](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/nhai-project-in-up-case-study-on-use-of-ocean-geogrid/) [Case Studies](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/category/case-studies/) [NHAI Project in Raebareli, UP: A Case Study on the Use of Ocean Geogrid-20Kn PP](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/nhai-project-in-up-case-study-on-use-of-ocean-geogrid/) For a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) road project in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, 37,500 square meters of Ocean Geogrid-20Kn PP were used to reinforce… [See More](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/nhai-project-in-up-case-study-on-use-of-ocean-geogrid/) [![Stabilising a Strategic Airbase: How Ocean - View of a construction site featuring large concrete columns, earthwork, and mac](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/stabilising-a-strategic-airbase-how-ocean-hdpe-1783581413434-300x200.webp)](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/hdpe-geocell-ground-reinforcement/) [Case Studies](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/category/case-studies/), [Geocell](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/category/geocell/) [Stabilising a Strategic Airbase: How Ocean HDPE Geocell 330 × 100 mm Reinforced the Air Force Project at Gwalior](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/hdpe-geocell-ground-reinforcement/) Project Snapshot When a defence facility near Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, needed a ground reinforcement solution able to carry heavy aircraft support movements over questionable subgrade,… [See More](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/hdpe-geocell-ground-reinforcement/) ![](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/tom-barrett-OQL4DLy3Nys-unsplash-1.webp) ## Contact US --- # Ocean Global --- ## Let's Keep In Touch (Social) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/OceanglobalOG/) - [X / Twitter](https://twitter.com/oceanglobalog) - [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/oceanglobalog) - [Pinterest](https://in.pinterest.com/oceanglobal/) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ocean-non-wovens-pvt-ltd/) - [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe0Aw7paUQqwZPS4L7G7UCA) ![Trust Seal](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/cover-trustseal.png-150x150.webp) --- - [Privacy Policy](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/terms-policies/) --- ## Contact Column - [Contact Us](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/contact/) - Email: [sales@oceangeosynthetics.com](mailto:sales@oceangeosynthetics.com) - Address: [RR-24, 2nd Floor, Rohtak Road, Mianwali Nagar, New Delhi – 110087, India](https://maps.app.goo.gl/iy7USRyPnFETrmVD6) --- ## Bottom Bar [Ocean Non Wovens Pvt. 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