Is there much research being done on alternate polymers or binders which can be produced to be used as an alternative on a large scale to sand? I remember readi

Is there much research being done on alternate polymers or binders which can be produced to be used as an alternative on a large scale to sand? I remember reading about mushrooms/fungi being grown for use in a cement-like material. Its troubling to see these issues across every resource we have and need in the world. Off the coast of florida here we have sandmines dredging in the gulfstream. They look like wider versions of oil rigs.