Use of Jute as a Sustainable Alternative for PP in Geotextile Tubes

Abstract

Geotextile tubes have been used extensively to contain and dewater high water content materials. Geotextile tubes are typically manufactured from polypropylene (PP), a high embodied energy polymer, because of their relatively high tensile and seam strength properties that are often necessary to withstand the stresses that can develop in a geotextile tube during filling, and to maintain geotextile tube shape after filling. There are applications where lower-strength jute geotextiles could be used to manufacture smaller, more sustainable geotextile tubes for use in sensitive environmental applications, such as in wetland or shoreline rehabilitation applications. This paper presents the results of a laboratory study that compares the filtration performance of PP versus jute geotextiles for use as geotextile tubes, demonstrating the potential use of jute in geotextile tubes. Second, the paper presents a life cycle analysis that compares commercially available PP geotextile tubes to jute geotextile tubes. Overall, jute shows great promise for use in geotextile tubes.