Hidden in Plain Sight: Sustainability and Geomembranes

摘要

Geomembranes are often used by requirement, either from regulation or site owner preference. The American waste management sector, for example, is required to use double-liner systems for municipal solid waste cells. With roughly 30 years of implementation-a period during which solid waste management became the strongest sector of American infrastructure, as rated by the American Society of Civil Engineers-geomembranes might read like old news, regardless of how ongoing R&D enables even stronger performance, including in terms of sustainability. Sustainability, meanwhile, as a newer focus of construction and engineering, is often promoted alongside what are viewed as newer technologies, such as solar panels and wind turbines, and in the context of issues like carbon emissions reduction. Essentially, the more standard a technology is within a sector, the greater the chance its sustainability impact is overlooked.