Sand extraction

Demand for sand is huge for construction but its extraction depletes the resource and takes a toll on the environment. VIDEOGRAPHIC

Transcript

00:00Sand is all around us, yet it risks slipping through our fingers.

00:11It is found in computers, paper, glass, wine, credit cards, cosmetics.

00:15But by far, the hungriest of consumers is the construction sector.

00:19With ever-expanding global urbanization, there is huge demand for sand today.

00:23China represents two-thirds of the world's sand mining.

00:26However, sand can take hundreds of thousands of years to renew itself,

00:30so much so that today getting hold of it is not so easy.

00:33A few problems. Sand in quarries is running out.

00:36Sand extraction from rivers runs the risks of being banned

00:40as the practice can cause flooding or reduction of riverbank water levels.

00:45As for dredging it up from the seabed, this practice is very destructive to marine ecosystems.

00:51And, if sand extraction takes place too close to beaches,

00:55this causes sand along coastlines to disappear.

00:58The increasing demand for sand has led to a sharp rise in its price.

01:01Mafias use beaches to resell sand to the construction sector in countries around the world,

01:07including Morocco, India, Sierra Leone and Singapore.

01:10What other materials could replace sand?

01:12Potential solutions include crushed glass, rubble from destroyed buildings

01:17and the remains of shellfish after it has been consumed.

01:20But the sand found in the desert can't be used in construction.

01:23Its particles are too fine and round.

01:25For its vast projects, Dubai has exhausted its own resources from the seabed

01:29and today imports sand from Australia.