Deep soil mixing (DSM) applications are one of the widely known soil stabilization techniques which can be applied to a wide range of soil types. Cement and lime are the major materials used as binders for DSM applications. However, as conventional binders lead to emit a large amount of CO2 during production, eco-friendly binders suitable for DSM applications have become prominent. Alkali-activated materials are good alternatives to conventional binders. This study was intended to investigate the usability of zeolite rich tuff wastes as an alkali-activated binder in DSM columns. Within this scope, the waste tuff and C-type fly ash mixture were used as an alkali-activated binder, and 10 M NaOH solution was used as an activator. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed in experimental design to determine optimum components to obtain maximum unconfined compression strength and investigate the interaction between stabilization agents. From the RSM analysis the optimum ratios of activator (X1), waste tuff (X2), and precursor (X3) were determined as; X1 = 0.251, X2 = 0.548, and X3 = 0.538 for maximum UCS. UCS, mineralogical and microstructural characterization (XRF, XRD, SEM, EDX, FTIR) was performed for the DSM samples prepared considering the optimized components. It was determined that the UCS values of the 3, 7, and 28-day cured samples stabilized by considering the optimum values gave UCS values approximately 3 to 5 times higher than the lower limit values recommended by FHWA. As a result of mineralogical and microstructural investigation, the reason for the strength increase in the samples can be attributed to the formation of geopolymeric gel between the soil particles by tuff waste and fly ash activated with alkaline activator. Carbon footprint analyses were performed for 1m3 DSM columns produced with alkali-activated binders and ordinary Portland cement (OPC). From the analyses it was seen that the carbon footprint of the DSM column produced using alkali activated binders is lower than that of the DSM column obtained with OPC. After the general evaluation of the study, it is seen that the hypothesis that waste tuff can be used as environmentally safe alkali-activated binders instead of traditional binders is supported. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Shiraz University 2024.