On the beach, on the mobile, in the car, at home and in the hospital. In all these places there is sand and not because it has not been swept, but because this natural resource is present in practically any construction element. It is the basic raw material for the manufacture of houses, sidewalks, electronic devices and even roads.
Despite the strong presence of sand in everyday life in all corners of the planet, “societies treat sand as an insignificant material”, reveals the UN in its report ‘Sand and sustainability: 10 strategic recommendations to avoid a crisis ‘.
A disinterest that has triggered unsustainable and illegal extraction in marine, coastal and freshwater ecosystems. “This exploitation is destroying biodiversity,” denounces the United Nations.
In the last twenty years, the consumption of aggregates has tripled and its use has not slowed down due to population growth and the drive for construction. The exploitation of sand and gravel is carried out throughout the world and represents the largest volume of extraction of solid materials worldwide. In fact, only water overcomes them. Every day 18 kilos of sand are extracted from the planet per day, “which represents a total of 50,000 million tons per year,” highlights the United Nations.
The real estate boom is depleting the aquatic and marine ecosystems of the entire planet. Precisely, this sector is the largest consumer of sand on the entire planet, accounting for half of the resources extracted to cover its needs. “Sand must be recognized as a strategic resource, not only as a construction material, but also for its multiple functions in the environment,” they say.
China’s demand for cement has increased exponentially by 430% in 20 years, while use in the rest of the world increased by 60%
China’s demand for cement has increased exponentially by 430% in 20 years, while use in the rest of the world increased by 60%. “We are spending our sand budget faster than we can produce responsibly,” UN Environment Acting Executive Director Joyce Msuya warned in 2019.
Until recent years, land quarries and riverbeds have been the main ‘suppliers’ of sand. Some natural warehouses that run out of ‘stock’ over the months. For this reason, companies in the sector have looked to the coasts and to the bottom of the sea to reverse the lack of raw material for the world of construction. “Millions of people mine sand in thousands of places, with impacts piling up
at a local, regional, national, continental and global scale”, reveals the UN.
The absence of global data on aggregate extraction makes environmental assessment very difficult and has contributed to a lack of awareness on this issue. To this is added that a quarter of the land mass, or the equivalent of 3,600 million hectares, is covered by deserts.
However, the sand found in most deserts is, paradoxically, unsuitable for concrete and land reclamation, since the wind erosion process forms round grains that do not come together in the most suitable way for this sector. .
Environmental impact
Despite economic crises and bubbles, construction seems to find no brake and neither does its demand for resources. The solutions suggested by the United Nations experts include avoiding unnecessary consumption, using recycled and alternative materials to replace natural sand in construction.
In recent years, the world’s great rivers have lost almost all of their natural delivery of sand and gravel to seas and oceans. “It is incorrectly assumed that reserves are infinite,” experts denounce. “Extraction generates numerous environmental and social consequences that have been largely overlooked,” they warn.
The uncontrolled extraction of this resource leaves its mark on biodiversity, on the landscape and on water. “In some extreme cases, the extraction of marine aggregates has changed international borders, such as through the disappearance of sand islands in Indonesia,” says the NGO GreenFacts.
The exploitation of river and seabeds to obtain aggregates also has a carbon footprint associated with its activity. According to data from this non-profit organization, one ton of cement produces 0.9 tons of CO2. “In 2010, cement production generated 1.65 billion tons of carbon dioxide.”
The overexploitation of sand as a resource not only has an environmental impact, but also a socioeconomic one
However, the greatest damage is done with the extraction of sand from the ground. In the case of the sea, this activity has an impact on the flora and fauna of the seabed. “The dredging and extraction of these aggregates destroys organisms, habitats and ecosystems,” they reveal.
Extraction of aggregates in the sea. /
In the case of rivers, overexploitation causes a change in the pH of the water and an increase in the intensity of floods by reducing the ability to regulate floods. “However, the reduction of the water table is the biggest threat to the water supply, which exacerbates the occurrence and severity of droughts, since the tributaries of the main rivers dry up when sand extraction reaches certain thresholds” , they warn.
There are also socio-economic, cultural and even political consequences. Tourism can be affected by beach erosion. Sand is often extracted from beaches to build hotels, roads and other infrastructure related to this activity.
sustainable sand
Modern civilization is based on concrete, cement, bricks and a lot of technology. The future, based on a green economy, is also built on the basis of grains of sand. “Sand is also essential in building the green economy, for example, for the production of solar panels and renewable energy infrastructure,” the UN recalls in its latest report.
With an eye on the deficit in the replenishment of this resource, a group of researchers from the University of Geneva (Unige) and the Institute of Sustainable Minerals, of the University of Queensland in Australia, have examined the potential of a viable alternative and sustainable to the natural sand that they have dubbed ‘mineral-sand’.
Experts put forward the idea of separating and reusing sand-like materials from mine tailings before they are added to the waste stream. Other alternative ways to replace natural sand is to manufacture it.
Producers use crushing and screening plants to grind rock down to sand particle size, with the ability to create specific particle sizes and shapes using a variety of screening equipment and techniques.
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