The First Pan American Geosynthetics Conference & Exhibition

The latest findings on the long-term performance of high density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembranes (GMs) are summarized. Insights from accelerated ageing tests of GMs in air, water and synthetic municipal solid waste leachate are discussed. A comparison is made with the test results on GMs in a composite landfill liner. The service life of the GM in landfill liners is addressed and is found to be long except at high temperatures. The results of long-term testing on outdoor natural weathering test on GMs are presented and it is indicated that the service life exposed to the atmosphere, while reduced compared to unexposed, is long as long as it is not physically damaged. Finally, laboratory results to assess the durability of the fluorinated GMs exposed to hydrocarbons are described and it is shown that for this GM, immersion in hydrocarbons can substantially increase the depletion of antioxidants evident in the standard OIT test