This paper describes the behavior of waste materials used as an alternative to enhance the mechanical characteristics of sandy soil and mitigate strains at a different stress level. This research aims to investigate the benefits of usingslag waste material as available as a cheap inclusion to improve the shear strength of sandy soil. A series of direct shear tests studied the main parameters of natural and reinforced sand. The microstructure behavior of the tested materials and sandy soil was investigated using a light microscope. The study revealed that at the same stresslevel the existence of such materials can effectively increase the shear strength and is mainly related to microstructures of slag. This technique is an effective method to decrease the vertical deformation and mitigate the strain under a different stress level. The conclusions of this paper support the use of waste materials as an environmentally acceptable cheaper inclusion in soil improvement applications.