Long story short, concrete needs a specific type of sand and there’s a finite amount of it and much of that is locked away in protected areas, agriculture or deep, deep under the ocean.
Gangs are looting what’s accessible, destroying entire ecosystems in the process and selling it on the black market to brokers who effectively launder it with legally acquired stocks and pass it on to the construction industry.
A few months back, I learned about an Irish lake that was having sand harvested and sold from its lakebed by the English Lord or Baron who owned it (the lakebed, not the water). This was legal, albeit extremely unethical in my view
Long story short, concrete needs a specific type of sand and there’s a finite amount of it and much of that is locked away in protected areas, agriculture or deep, deep under the ocean.
Gangs are looting what’s accessible, destroying entire ecosystems in the process and selling it on the black market to brokers who effectively launder it with legally acquired stocks and pass it on to the construction industry.
Yet another problem exacerbated by car-dependency (because parking decks require lots of concrete).
At least one kingpin has to be known as The Sandman
A few months back, I learned about an Irish lake that was having sand harvested and sold from its lakebed by the English Lord or Baron who owned it (the lakebed, not the water). This was legal, albeit extremely unethical in my view