The world is running out of sand, and it's more serious than it sounds. According to a 2019 United Nations report, this shortage could wreak havoc on the construction industry and damage marine environments. To tackle this pressing issue, D'Amore-McKim teamed up with the University of Plymouth, UK, and UNEP/GRID-Geneva to host a conference supported by generous funding from the Academy of Medical Sciences (UK). Led by University Distinguished Professor Sheila Puffer, this event brought together global leaders and academics, as well as local construction professionals and colleagues from local universities, including MIT and Harvard, to brainstorm solutions.
Associate Dean Koen Pauwels highlighted how this consortium supports D'Amore-McKim's mission to foster responsible business leaders, saying, “research on this topic adds to a rapidly growing number of projects related to sustainability that are currently underway at D'Amore-McKim, many of which are being conducted as part of interdisciplinary teams throughout Northeastern's eight colleges and 14 campuses.”
The conference shed light on the root cause of the sand shortage: a global construction boom has tripled concrete production in recent decades. Arnaud Vander Velpen, Sand Industry & Data Analytics Officer for UNEP/GRID-Geneva, illuminated the issue further in his presentation “The Sand Paradox: Why We Need to be More Efficient With a Seemingly Infinite Resource.” Vander Velpen discussed our heavy reliance on sand and the need to address the environmental impact of its overuse.
Experts from Canada, China, India, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the US shared updates on their sand consumption, demonstrating a global effort to address this crisis.
Puffer's team of researchers from Northeastern's Toronto and Boston campuses, including Teaching Professor Adel Zadeh, and D'Amore-McKim alumna Yunxin Peng, found that the construction industry largely lacks awareness of the ongoing sand crisis. Their research revealed that the most significant incentives for the industry to adopt more sustainable materials are cost-related.
Professor Sandeep Chaudhary from the Indian Institute of Technology, Indore, is raising awareness about sustainable sand mining and exploring alternatives like waste porcelain.
In the United Kingdom, Associate Professor Boksun Kim's team from the University of Plymouth is researching substitutes such as crushed glass and recycled plastic.
Yongqiang Li, a lecturer at Shenzhen University of Information Technology, is promoting the use of industrial solid waste in China, and Associate Professor Jae Hong Kim from the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology is developing high-quality, low-viscosity concrete for South Korea's booming construction industry.
Local industry representatives discussed sustainable substitutes for sand and how they could integrate these solutions into their practices to support sustainable building. The conference underscored the importance of circularity to save environmental and fiscal resources.
Puffer's partnership with Kim began during a sabbatical at Northeastern's London campus, inspired by her observations of sand in southwestern England. Their collaboration has led to significant research efforts, with plans to attend the next meeting at UNEP/GRID headquarters in Geneva in October.