At a recycling centre, used PET drinks bottles are sorted, washed and shredded into flakes. A batch of flakes still contains small traces of contamination. The centre does not try to remove this contamination. It sends the batch to be made into fleece clothing instead of new drinks bottles.
What justifies this decision?
Melting the flakes to make fibres removes the remaining contamination.
The contamination makes the PET more flexible, as fleece fibres need.
Washing the flakes is only needed for PET that becomes drinks bottles.
Fleece can be made from PET that is below food-grade purity.
99 exam-style questions on AQA GCSE Chemistry 10.2 Life cycle assessment and recycling, covering 10.2.1 Life cycle assessment and 10.2.2 Ways of reducing the use of resources. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.