How does the choice of raw material affect the life-cycle assessment of a product?
The raw material may be cheap
The raw material may be a finite resource
The raw material may not have the right properties
How does the manufacturing process affect the life-cycle assessment of a product?
The manufacturing process may use a lot of energy or very little
The manufacturing process may bring employment to a lot of people
The manufacturing process may be very expensive
Why is transport considered at each stage of a life-cycle assessment?
The more transport is needed, the higher the cost of the product
Long transport journeys mean it takes longer for the product to reach the shops
Transport uses energy and can release polluting gases into the atmosphere
How could the impact of transport be reduced?
Use aircraft to make transport quicker
Use the cheapest form of transport
Move the factory nearer to the locations being supplied with the product
Which method of disposal is likely to have the least environmental impact?
Recycling
Reuse
Incineration
What could make recycling more viable?
A recycling process that requires a lot of energy
A cheap and easy way to collect the material to be recycled
A large amount of impurities in the recycled material
What is an advantage of recycling aluminium?
Reducing the need to extract aluminium from its ore
The cans made from recycled aluminium are stronger
Recycled aluminium has a better appearance
Why do many polymers cause a problem in landfill?
They are biodegradable
They release harmful substances into the soil
They are non-biodegradable
Which of these is an advantage of incinerating polymers?
No harmful gases are produced
The energy may be used to generate electricity
It is cheap to set up
What is open-loop recycling of PET polymer?
A recycling process where the recycled PET polymer cannot be recycled again
A recycling process where PET polymer is broken down into its constituent elements
A recycling process where PET polymer is broken down into its monomers