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This article originally appeared in Geosynthetics Trends & Innovations 2026.
This is the second article I have written on the topic of “Geosynthetics and Sustainability,” the first being in 2022. There has been a great deal of effort and progress within the geosynthetics industry related to documenting and publishing the contributions of geosynthetics to sustainability efforts, which will be summarized here. I want to start with a positive statement and a disclaimer.
Geosynthetics make a significant contribution to sustainability and sustainable development. Waste containment, road, bridge and transportation construction, water management, aquaculture, coastal and other erosion protections, as well as many other infrastructure constructions require geosynthetics to perform optimally. The geosynthetics industry should be very proud of our contributions.
The disclaimer is that these are my thoughts and opinions only. While I participate in many industry groups, none of this has been reviewed, approved or sanctioned by the Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA), the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) or any other group. This is just what Boyd thinks.
In setting the framework for this review, one basic parameter should be established. I am considering the broader use of the term “sustainability.” This term includes many facets: energy consumption, CO2 emissions, water usage, climate change and the necessary resilience to its effects, contributions to a circular economy/recycling and many others. Geosynthetic materials nearly universally make positive contributions to all these facets, as compared to historical construction and design methods. My perspective is as holistic as possible, and I urge you to take an expansive view in your personal evaluations and decision-making.
My scope is related to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, providing a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries—developed and developing—in a global partnership.
A critical component of human sustainability is global human population. As of this writing, the world population is approximately 8.2 billion people, and we are consuming Earth’s resources at a rate that is not sustainable. There is some good news: The population growth rate is declining, and some estimates suggest population will peak in 2100. There need to be fewer of us. I recommend the book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. It provides an excellent overview of the constant environmental catastrophes, destruction of ecosystems, extinction of other species and other things the human race has done on the planet.
How are we doing in geosynthetics?
As individuals, we have very limited control of these issues. The problems are enormous and require global efforts. But as the slogan says: “Think globally, act locally.” So how are we doing in the geosynthetics neighborhood?
Over the last three-plus years, our industry has continued to make significant improvements in many areas. Nearly every large geosynthetics manufacturer now publishes some type of sustainability or ESG (Environmental, Sustainability and Governance) policy. An increasing number of companies are publishing Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). EPDs are a critical component in quantifying environmental impact of a product and its impact from cradle to grave: raw materials used, manufacturing processes, end usage, installation, lifespans, reuse, recycling or disposal and transportation impacts throughout the product life cycle. Again, here, geosynthetics demonstrate huge benefits and advantages compared to older designs and methodologies. Also, the IGS has a working sustainability committee that engages with regulatory, standards and government groups, creating and distributing content illustrating geosynthetics’ advantages.
Geosynthetic companies are behaving and operating in a responsible and sustainable fashion. A basic component of this is a corporate policy for sustainable behavior. In the last three years, our industry has moved from a few companies publishing this type of policy to nearly every manufacturer publishing a policy/ESG document on its respective website.
I interviewed Sahas Rathi, who is leading the efforts for Solmax®, the industry’s largest manufacturer. Rathi says, “For Solmax, sustainability is not a separate initiative; it is embedded in everything we do. By focusing on sustainability, we proactively identify opportunities and risks that strengthen business health and enhance the value proposition of our solutions. This approach drives growth and accelerates the adoption of geosynthetics in key industries. We are proud that through our solutions, Solmax helps protect the world for future generations by making infrastructure better.”
While not all geosynthetic companies have this level of engagement, the overall trend is very positive. In the next improvement step, annual reporting on goals and performance in this area should become commonplace.
Geosynthetic companies have also been publishing EPDs at an increasing rate. These declarations are third-party monitored and follow ISO protocol and requirements. The EPDs are specific to a product or group of similar products and are essential to calculations comparing design options and providing data for environmental impact measurements, both short and long term. EPDs run to six to seven pages and offer specific details on the products, covered at each stage of use. Companies such as Tensar® (CMC), TechFab India and Naue® have been leaders in this effort, but many other companies have published EPDs quantifying their activities.
Quantifying sustainability
Perhaps the area with the greatest change is in sustainability calculations. Accurately calculating the sustainability impacts of different designs enables clear comparisons and intelligent choices for infrastructure designs.
While these comparisons have been ongoing, in the last four to five years, the methodologies have become more standardized and automated via web-based programming. The IGS sustainability committee has been very active in this area. The IGS partnered with One Click LCA® and engaged academics from George Mason University and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (aka BarcelonaTech) to create example templates for many of the published examples of designs where geosynthetics provide sustainable benefits.
These templates have been made available to IGS members, and the IGS website offers an overview and additional information. With this and other similar tools, engineers can evaluate and demonstrate the advantages and benefits of designs using geosynthetics. Again, the geosynthetic design commonly has 20%–40% of the impact of traditional designs—lower CO2 emissions, much lower transportation impacts and benefits in many other areas.
It should be noted that these engineering calculations, associated software and reporting methods are actively improving and evolving. In discussions with IGS sustainability committee member Aníbal Andrés Moncada Ramírez of Politècnica de Catalunya he stated, “Sustainability as a whole involves the assessment of economic, environmental and social components. Thus, for something to be more sustainable, it must either excel in all three requirements individually or in the aggregated value of said requirements. Aggregating different requirements with different units of measurements and evaluation methodologies requires the use of multi-criteria evaluation tools…”
The geosynthetics industry is actively involved in these changes. Anibal and several other members of the IGS sustainability committee also are members of the European Committee for Standardization (Comité Européen de Normalisation or CEN), ISO and other government and regulatory bodies working on optimization and standardization of sustainability calculations.
Daniel Selander, chairman of GMA’s Executive Council, says that “The [Federal Highway Works Administration] established a Sustainable Pavement Program Technical Working Group a few years back. GMA created a task force to engage and participate in this group. Activity continues with companies building on how geosynthetics positively contribute to long-term (LCA) goals.” The geosynthetics industry is actively engaged in promoting and demonstrating the large contributions geosynthetics make to sustainable development.
Recycling and circular economies remain areas where improvement in sustainability contributions is needed. The greater issue involves all plastics and is not a topic of this article. Geosynthetic companies are making contributions and offer examples of how recycled materials should be used.
Both Geofabrics Australasia Pty Ltd. in Australia and Kaytech in South Africa produce continuous filament polyester (PET) geotextile using primarily recycled feedstock, principally from single-use PET bottles. While PET is chemically well-suited for this type of conversion, this general trend of using recycled feedstocks from other sources to produce prime-quality geosynthetics must expand if geosynthetics are to reach the necessary level of sustainable contributions. The materials produced by the companies above meet the same performance and durability requirements as those produced from virgin (first use) resin; this facet is essential.
Another example is Aero Aggregates® of North America LLC, led by Archie Filshill. This company recently expanded from the northeastern U.S. into Florida, uses recycled glass to manufacture a low-density fill material that is used to replace stone in civil construction. Use of these new materials allows innovative solutions to problems such as the I-95 bridge collapse, which was repaired in 12 days, partially due to the use of Aero Aggregates and other geosynthetic materials. This is a superb example of the contributions geosynthetic materials make.
Filshill says, “True sustainability in civil infrastructure is achieved when materials and design work together. Ultra-lightweight aggregates made from 100% recycled glass, when paired with geosynthetics, create systems that are not only structurally efficient but also dramatically reduce carbon footprint, truck traffic and long-term environmental impact. This combination allows engineers to solve complex geotechnical challenges while advancing real, measurable sustainability goals.”
So, in our “neighborhood” of geosynthetics, the sustainability component is fairly good. Edoardo Zannoni, vice president of the IGS, says, “Sustainability is a fundamental pillar for geosynthetics, as the benefits they provide are of a comparable magnitude to those of other technologies. There is a close relationship between sustainable solutions when we talk about geosynthetic solutions, as it is implicit; it is a relationship which cannot be pulled apart. I never heard of a geosynthetic solution which was not sustainable.
“The IGS is navigating this evolving world by keeping abreast of the latest research on the benefits of geosynthetics in life-cycle assessment,” he continues. “I would not be surprised if geosynthetics, in a few decades, will become mandatory in some engineering applications, given the undeniable sustainable advantage to an engineering solution.”
A global view
I would be remiss if I did not offer my commentary on the overall global situation of “sustainability.” My opinion about this is not as positive as that for the geosynthetics industry. Humankind must change our behaviors: what and how we mine, farm, shop, eat and generally live our lives. To achieve globally sustainable human behavior will require government action, economic changes and a greater sense of stewardship and urgency.
The need for government action is clear. Of the 8-plus billion people on this plant, 99% or more will need to behave differently. This will require active government and political action that, so far, has not been forthcoming. This topic was addressed at the EuroGeo8 diversity lecture in Lille, France, in 2025. We are all in this together; there can be no “us vs. them” for global sustainability. Policies that are country or region specific will not be effective. There is no “safe harbor.” Each continent, country, state, city, village, neighborhood, family and individual must be involved in this effort together.
Economic changes are a necessity as well. Our current systems do not capture the true and total costs of a great many things. In my prior article, I expanded on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) addresses this. This topic is also discussed in detail in the book Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature by Alyssa Battistoni.
There is a good example of this situation specifically related to geosynthetics and plastics. Broad-based use of recycled plastics is not taking place in geosynthetics, and a major reason for this is that prime/unused plastic remains lower in cost than recycled materials. Companies will follow the profit maximization route despite the sustainability need to reuse/recycle these materials. A close analogy is that of tobacco. At one point, cigarettes were very inexpensive, until the realization that the societal cost of health care due to tobacco use was enormous; this spurred changes to the economic model. Home appliances, automobiles, tires, single-use plastics and home electronics are all good examples of items we are “throwing away” that have a significant value not being accurately accounted for by current economics, both during use and at end of life.
Stewardship of our resources (and the planet) needs to be a greater concern at each level of decision-making. Engineers need to have a greater voice in human activities and the political arena much less.
Finally, a greater sense of urgency is required. Humans are consuming nonrenewable resources at rates that are not sustainable. Oil, gas, sand, copper, nickel, iron, lithium, rare earth minerals and more are all being used up, with the end of easy availability likely arriving shortly. My hope is that we will begin to both recycle these materials nearly completely and “mine” our landfills to reclaim those valuable chemicals stored therein. My fear is that humankind will follow our historical pattern and violently argue over the limited resources that remain … and as we have constructed a large number of weapons, along with our violent nature, this is a very unsustainable and dangerous path. We need to be sustainable to be peaceful as well as being good stewards of Earth.
I challenge everyone who reads this to adopt a more sustainable life—change and reduce what you buy and consume, minimize waste, recycle everything you can and educate and involve others in this effort. Greta Thunberg and others are correct in that humankind is moving too slowing—certainly not reflecting the magnitude and importance of our sustainability problem. The geosynthetics industry does well, but we each need to do more.
Boyd Ramsey is principal of Boyd Ramsey Consulting LLC. He is a previous chairman of the Geosynthetics Materials Association and has served in many other industry associations. He can be reached at Boyd@Boydramseyconsulting.com.
References and suggested reading
“B.”, “The Honest Sorcerer” https://thehonestsorcerer.substack.com Accessed Dec. 29, 2025.
Battistoni A., “Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature”, Princeton Press (2025)
Harari Y. N.,“Sapiens : Une brève histoire de l’humanité , ISBN-13 978-2226479822. (2022)
International Geosynthetics Society. (2021), “Sustainability.” Austin, Texas. https://www.geosyntheticssociety.org/sustainability, Accessed Dec. 24, 2025.
International Organization for Standardization. (2015). “Environmental management systems: Requirements with guidance for use,” https://www.iso.org/standard/60857.html. Accessed Dec. 24, 2025.
Meadows D. et.al., “The Limits to Growth”, Signet (1972)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2001). Extended Producer Responsibility: A Guidance Manual for Governments, Paris, France, OECD Publishing, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264189867-en. Accessed Dec. 24, 2025.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2016). “Extended producer responsibility: Updated guidance for efficient waste management,” Paris, France, OECD Publishing, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264256385-en. Accessed Dec. 24, 2025.
Sandel M. J., “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets”, ISBN-13 978-0374533656 (2013)
Smil V., “How the World Really Works: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Past, Present and Future”, Viking Press (2022)
United Nations. (2015). “Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” Adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, New York, Sept. 25–27, https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda. Accessed Dec. 24, 2025.
United Nations. (2022). “The 17 goals,” New York, United Nations Division for Sustainable Development Goals, https://sdgs.un.org/goals. Accessed Dec. 24, 2025.
Wallace-Wells, D., “The Uninhabitable Earth: Life after Warming” Crown, (2020)