Sand as a Finite Resource: We Need to Rethink Our Consumption Before It’s Too Late
By Ellie Gabel
Sand probably doesn’t come to mind when most people think of the world’s limited resources. Trips to beaches’ sandy shores suggest it is plentiful, and there’s no need to worry about running out. However, that’s more realistic than they realize, largely because so many widely produced products contain sand or need it for the manufacturing processes.
Asphalt and concrete require it, as do ceramics and glass panes. The silicon wafers needed for the semiconductors used in everything from cars to washing machines begin as raw quartz sand. Solar panels, which represent the world’s high-tech and greener future, also contain silicon. However, many countries are running low, and some have resorted to getting it from elsewhere because their domestic supplies cannot fulfill anticipated needs.
Illuminating the Concealed Effects of Sand Mining
Although people within the general population may not discuss or even know about the numerous issues connected to global sand extraction, some researchers hope to shed light on the emerging and ongoing concerns. One group will focus on the Cambodian Mekong, where sand miners have extracted 77% of the location’s sediment load since 1994.
They chose this place because of its river system’s social and ecological importance, which is also one of the most intensively sand-mined areas. The researchers noted the many unknowns concerning the physical and socioecological damage caused by these activities, which they plan to illuminate through this project.
Their work will combine high-tech satellite mapping with ground-level monitors that measure mining activities and sand barge movements. The researchers will also interview people involved, including sand-trade laborers and environmental advocates. Since awareness-raising is significant to this effort, those leading it will also create a publicly accessible digital twin that gathers data from citizen scientists and allows interested parties to track how riverbeds and banks respond to sand mining.
The project’s leader has studied the activity and its effects on this area for the past decade. During that time, he and his colleagues identified several adverse impacts on the environment and its inhabitants. For example, they documented severe erosion at several sites and heard accounts from residents who had to move because sand mining made their properties or livelihoods unstable.
Resource depletion has also caused the emergence of “sand mafias” that use intimidation and violence to maintain control over their sites. An accompanying lack of legal oversight enables illicit activities that further marginalize or endanger affected residents.
Restricting Economic Growth
Many government officials have planned aggressive infrastructure development efforts, recognizing that successful projects could increase their competitiveness and preparedness. However, creating more roads or additional buildings requires sand, and nations don’t necessarily have enough of it.
That’s the case in Vietnam, where officials hope to make up the deficit by importing the product from Cambodia. This plan highlights how extraction in the latter country could have far-reaching implications. Vietnamese authorities plan to make approximately 621 miles of new roads in 2025. However, people familiar with the domestic sand-mining sector say authorities regulate it too tightly to secure the necessary amounts in time, prompting those involved to explore import options from Cambodia.
A satellite image analysis showed about 385 barges and dredgers loaded with sand in Cambodia and transported to Vietnamese construction sites during a single day in March 2025. However, that figure was approximately 83 in February 2020. That sharp increase could have environmental effects people don’t discover until it’s too late to reverse them.
However, since asking parties to pause their development plans is unrealistic, researchers are looking for alternatives that address the current crisis while enabling construction. In one case, a group believes graphene made from a coal-based product could become a suitable sand substitute in concrete.
Experiments showed the aggregate substitute made the concrete weigh 25% less but have a higher strength-to-weight ratio. It also matches the mechanical properties of the conventional material, so architects, construction leaders and other parties should not need to change their processes to use it.
One of the study’s authors mentioned that concrete contains 30% sand, making it necessary to find alternatives. Although it will take time for graphene prices to become low enough to make this viable, the scientists’ work shows other options exist.
Finding Creative Solutions
Many environmentally conscious people realize the goal is not to find a single answer to the world’s pressing problems. Instead, numerous committed individuals think outside the box and develop possibilities that may not have major overall impacts but at least encourage creative thinking.
Paola Barranco is the co-founder of a small business called Glass For Life. She lives in Florida, where authorities spend millions of dollars bringing in sand from elsewhere to stop beachfront erosion. However, those activities also increase transport-related emissions. What if people could rely on local options to address the state’s sand shortages? That’s the goal behind Barranco’s startup. She uses a single professional glass pulverizer to create handfuls of sand in seconds from empty bottles.
If someone had 100 bottles and a half-hour to feed each container into the machine, they could create enough sand to fill a sandbag. That’s not enough to stop bringing distant sand to fill Floridian beaches. Still, it shows what a dedicated person can do when thinking about how their existing resources could help tackle an increasing problem.
Many towns and cities have recycling centers where people bring their glass containers. If those facilities had pulverizers for the public, individuals could play their part in managing the sand scarcity. A representative from a hotel that has partnered with Glass For Life said the company has allowed the business to repurpose over 10,000 bottles. She also likes this option because few waste management companies recycle the containers despite collecting them.
Businesses pay Glass For Life to collect weekly pickups. Although they do not receive anything for providing the containers, some decision-makers find the arrangement worthwhile because they know it is right for the environment.
Making Positive Changes
People can not consider sand a never-ending resource. Authorities in many areas have tried to counteract its ongoing depletion. However, the most important thing for everyone to do is remain aware of the problem and support efforts that help the planet and those living on it.
About the Author
Ellie Gabel is the sciences editor at Revolutionized, where she specializes in astronomy, environmental science, and innovative technologies.