Assessment of the use of spent copper slag for land reclamation

Abstract

The shortage of waste landfill space for waste disposal and the high demand for fill materials for land reclamation projects in Singapore have prompted a study on the feasibility of using spent copper slag as fill material in land reclamation. The physical and geotechnical properties of the spent copper slag were first assessed by laboratory tests, including hydraulic conductivity and shear strength tests. The physical and geotechnical properties were compared with those of conventional fill materials such as sands. The potential environmental impacts associated with the use of the spent copper slag for land reclamation were also evaluated by conducting laboratory tests including pH and Eh measurements, batch-leaching tests, acid neutralization capacity determination, and monitoring of long-term dissolution of the material. The spent copper slag was slightly alkaline, with pH 8.4 at a solid: water ratio of 1: 1. The batch-leaching test results show that the concentrations of the regulated heavy metals leached from the material at pH 5.0 were significantly lower than the maximum concentrations for their toxicity limits referred by US EPA’s Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). It was also found that the material is unlikely to cause significant change in the redox condition of the subsurface environment over a long-term period. In terms of physical and geotechnical properties, the spent copper slag is a good fill material. In general, the spent copper slag is suitable to be used as a fill material for land reclamation.