Coalition of Responsible Sand and Silicates

What Coalition of Responsible Sand and Silicates does

The Coalition for Responsible Sand and Silicates is a not-for-profit, public company limited by guarantee incorporated in Australia, developing guidance, tools, and projects for responsible sourcing and production of sand and silicates. It serves a multi-stakeholder membership spanning industry (upstream, midstream, and downstream operators across construction, glass, technology, and manufacturing), researchers and civil society organisations, policymakers and intergovernmental bodies, and philanthropic foundations. The Coalition's intellectual output is built on the "See, Secure, Share" architecture and is grounded in the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, with an OECD study on due diligence for sand and silicates supply chains published in 2026 forming the analytical baseline; it also extends into materials-specific protocols across five groupings (aggregates, industrial sands, clays, natural stone, and high-purity quartz), demonstration projects that test practices in real supply chains, a Knowledge Hub, and a planned labelling scheme for 2026–2028.

The Coalition's core commercial offering is a tiered annual membership programme that is being formally opened in mid-2026, starting with a Founders cohort (2026) and broadening to general Members (2027). Membership fees range from AUD 0–2,400 for civil society and NGOs (tiered by operating budget, potentially fee-free for public-good actors), AUD 0–8,000 for government and intergovernmental organisations, AUD 4,000–60,000 for industry members (tiered by company turnover), and AUD 4,000 for non-member Subscribers; flexible instalment payment options support enterprise procurement. The go-to-market is community-led and event-driven rather than sales-driven, relying on a structured 6-step direct onboarding process through the secretariat, supported by LinkedIn, an email newsletter, and presence at events such as the OreSand Summit. The organisation is governed by a Board of Directors (fiduciary oversight), a multi-stakeholder Advisory Council (strategic direction), and a small distributed secretariat led by Co-Leads Louise Gallagher and Daniel Holm, with Elin Post serving as Technical Advisory.

The Coalition emerged from research conducted at the Global Centre for Mineral Security at The University of Queensland's Sustainable Minerals Institute between 2022 and 2024, commissioned by IKEA and the OECD, with foundational funding from UQ's Resourcing Decarbonisation and Trailblazer initiatives, IKEA, Roca Group, and MCS Group; a Founders meeting in Barcelona in July 2025 (hosted by Roca Group) shaped the programme, and an Interim Council meeting in London in December 2025 endorsed the move to independence ahead of the mid-2026 public launch.

Name

Coalition of Responsible Sand and Silicates

Legal name

Coalition for Responsible Sand and Silicates

Website

https://responsiblesand.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2025

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Coalition for Responsible Sand and Silicates is an Australian not-for-profit membership organisation that develops OECD-aligned frameworks, guidance, and demonstration projects for responsible sourcing of sand and silicates, serving industry, researchers, civil society, and policymakers across five materials groupings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable Sourcing Coalition Services

NAICS

Business Associations (81391)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Fair Trade & Ethical Supply Chains (Certification, Traceability, Producer Support) (BPAGALAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental, Climate & Sustainability Standards & Reporting Cooperation (BPADANAI), Technical Committees, Working Groups & Expert Panels (BPADANAB), International Standards, Norms & Technical Regulatory Bodies (BPADAAAJ)

Keywords

• Responsible sand sourcing
• Silicate industry coalition
• Sustainable materials membership
• Construction materials framework
• Sand governance initiatives

Headquarters

HQ city

Brisbane

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: The Coalition generates revenue through tiered annual membership fees charged to industry, government, research institutions, and civil society organisations. Fees are structured by operating budget (for civil society/research) or turnover (for industry), with civil society and NGOs potentially fee-free.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Coalition of Responsible Sand and Silicates operates as a multi-stakeholder non-profit that convenes industry, government, research institutions, and civil society around the responsible sourcing and production of sand and silicate materials. It sells coalition memberships and delivers accompanying responsible sourcing frameworks, materials-specific protocols, demonstration projects, a knowledge hub, and a planned product labelling scheme to its member organizations.

Product overview

The Coalition for Responsible Sand and Silicates is a not-for-profit membership organisation providing the only credible commitment mechanism for responsible sourcing and production of sand and silicates. The offering consists of a formal membership programme (with voting and supporter tiers), access to the OECD-aligned Responsible Sourcing Framework as the normative foundation, and Materials-Specific Protocols developed through focused working groups. Members also benefit from participation in Demonstration Projects that test responsible practices in real supply chains, a Knowledge Hub aggregating research and practice from across the network, and access to a planned Labelling Scheme. The portfolio covers five materials groupings: aggregates, clays, industrial sands, natural stone, and high-purity quartz.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Coalition Membership Tiered annual membership for industry organizations, government bodies, research institutions, and civil society groups that join the coalition to participate in shaping and adopting its responsible sourcing agenda.
• Responsible Sourcing Framework Overarching responsible sourcing framework for the sand and silicate value chain, providing shared principles and expectations that member organizations adopt and align their internal practices against.
• Materials-Specific Protocols Technical protocols tailored to specific sand and silicate material categories, giving members detailed, material-by-material guidance on responsible sourcing and production practices.
• Demonstration Projects Pilot projects that demonstrate how the coalition's responsible sourcing framework and protocols can be implemented in real-world sand and silicate value chains, serving as proof-of-concept for member organizations.
• Knowledge Hub Online member-accessible resource centre hosting the coalition's frameworks, protocols, research, demonstration project outputs, and related responsible-sourcing knowledge products.
• Labelling Scheme Planned product labelling scheme that signals to buyers and end customers that sand and silicate materials have been sourced in accordance with the coalition's responsible sourcing framework and protocols.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• Global Centre for Mineral Security (GCMS) at University of Queensland's Sustainable Minerals InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Global Centre for Mineral Security provided the intellectual home for the Coalition's formation, supporting the research that made the work credible and creating conditions for collaboration across industry, civil society and research. Professor Daniel Franks (GCMS) provided leadership. The Centre's work was supported by funding from UQ's Resourcing Decarbonisation and Trailblazer initiatives.
• Roca GroupmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoca Group co-funded the foundational research and generously hosted the Founders meeting in Barcelona in July 2025 where the Coalition's purpose, scope and initial programme were shaped.
• The University of Queensland (UQ)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUQ provided the institutional home through its Resourcing Decarbonisation and Trailblazer initiatives funding, which supported the foundational research conducted at the Sustainable Minerals Institute/Global Centre for Mineral Security.
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Coalition's entire approach is anchored in the OECD's Responsible Business Conduct work and Due Diligence Guidance. An OECD study on due diligence for sand and silicates supply chains (published 2026) forms the analytical baseline for Coalition guidance, tools and demonstrations. The Coalition works to bring sand and silicates into the OECD system.
• UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBetween 2019 and 2022, Coalition members contributed to UNEP's work on sand and sustainability, establishing the case for global sand governance and informing the UNEA 4/19 Resolution on Mineral Resource Governance.
• GIZsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerGIZ commissioned a second study, examining raw materials in semiconductor supply chains and situating sand within wider debates on supply security and industrial policy, alongside the OECD study commissioned for IKEA.
• H&M GroupsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerH&M is listed among partner and friend organisations of the Coalition. Elin Post, a former Materials & Innovation Manager at H&M Group, contributed as a Founder and has joined the Coalition secretariat to translate the Coalition's vision into practical supply chain implementation.
• BA GlasssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerBA Glass appears among partner/friend organisations and logos on the Coalition's website, indicating involvement as a sector stakeholder in the glass/silicates supply chain.
• CSC — Concrete Sustainability CouncilsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a friend/organisation partner of the Coalition, indicating alignment on responsible sourcing standards in the construction materials space.
• Ria StonesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a partner organisation of the Coalition in the partner logos section, indicating involvement from a natural stone supply chain actor.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA): Global multi-stakeholder standard for responsible mining across all mined materials, with explicit focus on independent third-party verification. Directly comparable as a multi-stakeholder coalition developing standards the Coalition's industrial sand and aggregates members will likely need to align with.
• Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO): Pioneer multi-stakeholder roundtable certifying sustainable palm oil through producer, trader, manufacturer, retailer and NGO members. Most analogous peer in terms of membership tiers, certification scheme, and member-driven governance for a high-volume commodity material.
• Better Cotton Initiative (BCI): Multi-stakeholder sustainability coalition for the cotton sector with mass-balance sourcing model and tiered membership. Comparable in member structure and in translating voluntary commitments into widely-adopted sector practice.
• Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI): Multi-stakeholder standards and certification organisation for the aluminium value chain, operating tiered membership and a performance standard. Highly comparable in governance, standards-development model and member tiers, and the most analogous peer in the metals/materials space.
• Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC): Multi-stakeholder standards body covering gold, diamonds and platinum group metals across the jewellery supply chain. Highly comparable membership and chain-of-custody model, applicable to the Coalition's high-purity quartz and industrial minerals work.
• Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI): Multi-stakeholder initiative driving responsible mineral supply chains through assessment tools, standards and in-program smelter/refiner engagement. Closely comparable in mission and structure to the Coalition, but focused on tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold, cobalt and mica — making it both a model and a complementary coalition for adjacent minerals.
• Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC): Responsible sourcing certification scheme for concrete and its constituent materials, including aggregates and cement. Already a named partner of the Coalition and the most directly overlapping standards body for its aggregates work.
• Better Work (ILO/IFC partnership): Multi-stakeholder partnership improving labour conditions in global garment supply chains through assessments, training and remediation. Comparable in convening industry, labour unions and governments to define and verify responsible practice.

Broad incumbents

• Fairtrade International: Established global certification and labelling organisation with a multi-stakeholder governance model across producer and trader cooperatives. Comparable as a long-running, label-driven responsible sourcing benchmark the Coalition's planned labelling scheme could emulate.
• World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD): CEO-led coalition of over 200 global businesses working on sustainability, with working groups producing guidance for member companies. Less specialised than the Coalition but provides a broader industry coalition template and convening role.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/responsible-sand-and-silicates

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Coalition of Responsible Sand and Silicates