Reframing lime treatment carbon calculations

Beetham, P ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7125-4141, Wayles, S, Cowen, O, Neville, J, Phipps, S and Brook, C, 2025. Reframing lime treatment carbon calculations. In: Earthworks 2025: The British Geotechnical Associations 4th Biennial conference, Birmingham, UK, 16-17 September 2025.

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Abstract

The ability for low dosages of lime to improve wet-of-optimum cohesive fill to an optimum moisture content for compaction is well known. Increasingly, lime is also used to attain improved long term performance criteria, maximising opportunities for on-site soil retention. The costs of landfill tax and aggregate levies mean the economic case for lime treatment versus granular import is strongly understood, particularly where material performance is key. However, the high embodied carbon content of lime can dampen the overall strong positive contribution lime treatment has on climate neutrality compared to granular fill import.

This paper will review and build on the work of others in the calculation of embodied carbon of lime treatment considering:

1. updated understanding on the role of carbon sequestration in lime treated structures;

2. recent work that has shown BS EN 16907:4 (2018) 'stabilised soil' definition can be met with quicklime dosages as low as 1.5% providing the opportunity to replace the need to import structural fill classes (class 6/7 type fill);

3. other environmental considerations such as haulage, construction techniques and waste generation (recent UK government figures report soil waste accounts for 57% of all the 45 million tonnes sent to landfill).

The paper will review the revised carbon impact of lime stabilised site-won fill against imported fill through an High Speed Two (HS2) case study to demonstrate that low-dosage lime treatment presents a viable low-carbon option to support the adoption of a circular economy, low carbon approach in construction.

Item Type:	Conference contribution
Creators:	Beetham, P., Wayles, S., Cowen, O., Neville, J., Phipps, S. and Brook, C.
Date:	September 2025
Identifiers:	Number Type 2486972 Other
Rights:	© Authors
Divisions:	Schools > School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	23 Sep 2025 09:27
Last Modified:	23 Sep 2025 09:27
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54394

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