Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference 2025 (RIC 2025)

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Feasibility of Reinforcing Tailings Storage Facilities Using Polyethylene Terephthalate Fibers

Authors
S. T. Mudenge1, 2, *, B. Khunou1, B. Msibi1, D. Kalumba2
1Univesity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
2University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
*Corresponding author. Email: shiella.mudenge@wits.ac.za
Corresponding Author
S. T. Mudenge
Available Online 7 December 2025.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_29How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Tailings storage facility; Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste fibers; reinforcement
Abstract

Slope instability remains one of the primary causes of tailings storage facility (TSF) failures, highlighting the need for effective stabilization techniques. This study investigated the feasibility of reinforcing platinum tailings with 0.75 mm diameter and 10 mm long polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers. Four concentrations ranging from 0.5% to 2% were applied, and density and shear strength tests were performed on the mixtures. The results indicated that while density decreased with increasing PET concentration, the cohesion increased by a maximum of 15% at a PET concentration of 1% and the friction angle increased by 38% at 1.5% PET fiber. The optimum reinforcement was determined to be 1.5% PET, which improved the factor of safety (FS) by 38% at a slope of 30°. Due to the significantly high stability of the 1.5% PET reinforced TSF, the TSF geometry was safely optimized by increasing the slope to 45°, which corresponded to an improvement factor of 1.5. Based on these findings, recycling PET fibers as TSF reinforcement material is a sustainable waste management practice that can mitigate slope failure while maximizing land utilization. This technique will not only contribute to environmental preservation but also enable land that could have been occupied by the TSF to be repurposed for alternative productive uses.

Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference 2025 (RIC 2025)
Series
Atlantis Highlights in Engineering
Publication Date
7 December 2025
ISBN
978-94-6463-900-1
ISSN
2589-4943
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_29How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - S. T. Mudenge
AU  - B. Khunou
AU  - B. Msibi
AU  - D. Kalumba
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/07
TI  - Feasibility of Reinforcing Tailings Storage Facilities Using Polyethylene Terephthalate Fibers
BT  - Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference 2025 (RIC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 300
EP  - 308
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_29
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_29
ID  - Mudenge2025
ER  -