Application potentials of soda residue as construction materials by chemical stabilisation

Recycling soda residue (SR) as a construction material offers a sustainable and economical method of waste management. This study investigated the performance of various types of stabilisers in improving SR, including ordinary Portland cement (OPC), ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), fly ash, silica sand, and clay. The fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) method was employed to identify the suitable stabiliser composition with consideration of strength requirement and cost control. Subsequently, one-dimensional consolidation and field plate load tests were conducted on SR treated with the selected stabiliser composition. The results revealed that GGBS had superior performance in improving the strength of SR. The synergic effect between GGBS and OPC was found to be more beneficial for the improvement of SR than the combination of GGBS with fly ash, silica sand, or clay. Moreover, the SR treated with the selected stabilisation composition exhibited excellent compressibility of SR and satisfactory bearing capacity in the field. This study highlights the technical advantage of recycling SR as a construction material, as well as provides a reference for the sustainable management of bulk solid waste in practice.