Making Sand Is the Solution To Reduce Waste According To Study

Sand is the most utilized natural resource on the globe, second only to water.

Its extraction from oceans, rivers, beaches, and quarries, on the other hand, influences the environment and nearby populations.

According to a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University of Queensland's Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI), a step-change in mineral processing could significantly decrease mineral waste, the world's largest waste stream, while also creating a sustainable source of sand.

An innovation on turning plastics into sand

(Photo : JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the research "Ore-sand: A potential new solution to the mine tailings and global sand sustainability problems," this substance, dubbed "ore-sand," has the potential to address two global sustainability concerns at the same time, as per ScienceDaily.

Sand has several uses, including concrete, asphalt, glass, and computer chips.

This granular material is composed of minute mineral particles and comes from sensitive dynamic settings, such as oceans, beaches, lakes, and rivers, as well as static land-based ecosystems such as old river deposits and rock quarries.

Each year, it is projected that 50 billion tons of sand are utilized. Demand has tripled over the last two decades, mostly owing to urbanization and population expansion, and this trend is likely to continue, with aggregates usage exceeding 50 billion tons per year by 2030.

Pascal Peduzzi, Adjunct Professor at UNIGE's Department F.-A. Forel for environmental and marine sciences at the Faculty of Science, stated that ore-sand has the greatest volume potential for lowering the quantity of sand extracted in the natural environment.

The initiative provides a crucial drive towards a more circular economy by using what has previously been termed "leftover" material.

The manufacture of ore-sand can aid in the reduction of mineral mining waste and, as a result, the continued accumulation of mine tailings.

Mineral waste from ore mining is now the world's greatest waste stream, with estimates ranging from 30 to 60 billion tonnes per year.

These wastes result from crushing procedures used to extract certain metals from rock.

Also Read: Indian Infrastructures to Replace 70% of Sand in Concrete with Shredded Plastic

The exploitation of a seemingly infinite resource

Skyrocketing demand, paired with unrestricted mining to supply it, is a prescription for shortages. A wealth of data implies that sand is becoming increasingly limited in many areas.

Domestic demand for sand in Vietnam surpasses the country's total reserves.

According to recent claims from the country's Ministry of Building, if this mismatch persists, the country may run out of construction sand by 2020.

This issue is rarely raised in scientific conversations and has not been thoroughly researched, as per the Smithsonian Magazine.

While scientists are working hard to quantify how infrastructure systems like roads and buildings influence the environments around them, the effects of collecting construction materials like sand and gravel to build such structures have been underestimated.

The 12-month research collected and studied sand created by iron ore mining pioneered by Vale S.A in Brazil, which now has already had tailings dam collapses.

Following a chemical property analysis and some refining operations, the researchers were able to demonstrate that a portion of the material stream that otherwise would end up as mining contaminants will be used as a substitute for areas and infrastructure sand in the same way that recycled concrete and steel slag could.

If these findings can be repeated with other types of mineral ores, there is the possibility of significant reductions in worldwide mining tailings.

Related article: Sand Mining Threatens Lives Along Mekong River