A recycling company processes discarded food trays made from a mixture of PET and other plastics. The company can melt the trays without separating them or separate the plastics before melting the PET fraction.
A manufacturer will pay £0.70 per kg for pellets containing at least 95% PET.
| Processing route | Mass of pellets produced in kg | PET in pellets in % | Energy used in GJ | Processing cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melt without separating | 1000 | 80 | 1.8 | £250 |
| Separate, then melt the PET fraction | 780 | 97 | 3.0 | £360 |
Use the data to evaluate whether the company should separate the plastics before melting.
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.