Scope for sustainable soil stabilisation in SIDS: Mauritius case study

Soil stabilisation is crucial to tackle the problem of land disasters, such-as landslide, slope failure, and debris flow among others, which may occur naturally or as a result of human actions. Many people are displaced from their homes and some even lose their life in such disasters. Mauritius has not been spared by these major issues and, as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) which is found under the tropics, the island is at a high risk of cyclones and torrential rains which may induce further land disasters. Another problem occurring worldwide is the landfill scarcity to dispose human, commercial, and industrial solid waste. The facilities for recycling municipal solid waste (MSW) in the country are very limited. Chemical stabilisation could potentially help solve both issues by combining binders with waste products to stabilise the soils in landslide-prone areas. The goal of this paper was to investigate the scope for an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable solution to help mitigate the negative geotechnical events which come with climate change and also reducing the environmental problem of disposal and landfill scarcity. It was found that plastic wastes (14% of MSW), textile wastes (6% of MSW) and glass wastes (3% of MSW) in Mauritius were largely not recycled and could potentially be used in soil stabilisation.