Comparative life cycle assessment of geosynthetic versus conventional construction materials

Geosynthetic materials are used in many different applications in the civil and underground engineering. In most cases, the use of geosynthetic material replaces the use of other materials. The authors quantify the environmental performance of commonly applied construction materials (such as concrete, cement, lime or gravel) versus geosynthetics. To this end a set of comparative life cycle assessment studies have been carried out concentrating on various application cases, namely filtration, foundation stabilised road, landfill construction and slope retention. The environmental performance of geosynthetics is compared to the performance of conventional construction materials used for the same application. The specifications of the four construction systems were established by the members of the Association for Geosynthetic Manufacturers (EAGM), which represents the European market for geosynthetic materials, and these specifications represent best current practice.