Abstract
The sludge from metal plating industry is generally considered as “hazardous waste” due to its toxic heavy metal content. Solidification/stabilization techniques which are applied as prior to landfill give good results for the disposal of especially inorganic sludges into the landfill in a safe manner. The research is aimed to investigate an effective and low cost solidification technique for the sludge of a metal plating factory by using different particle sizes of clinoptilolite. Clinoptilolite is a kind of natural zeolite and it was used due to its good pozzolanic characteristic and its abundant reserves in Turkey. According to the results, clinoptilolite was found as a successful solidification additive yielding products with high unconfined compressive strength and low leaching.