Question 3 – Improving processes and products - Questions

A life-cycle assessment looks at the potential environmental impact at each stage of the life of a product.

Milk can be sold in HDPE plastic bottles or glass bottles.

The table below shows information about these two containers.

	HDPE Plastic Bottle	Glass Bottle
Raw Materials	Crude oil	Sand, soda ash, and limestone
Manufacture	Fractional distillation of crude oil, polymerisation, and blow moulding.	Quarrying raw materials, melting mixture at over $1500∘C1500^\circ\text{C}$ in a furnace, and blowing into shape.
Using the product	Lightweight and durable. Usually single-use before recycling or disposal.	Heavy but sturdy. Can be washed, sterilised, and reused up to 25 times.
Disposal of the product	Recyclable (usually downcycled with some loss of quality). Non-biodegradable; takes up space in landfill.	Fully recyclable infinitely with no loss of quality. Non-biodegradable; chemically inert in landfill.

A life-cycle assessment looks at the potential environmental impact at each stage of the life of a product.

Milk can be sold in HDPE plastic bottles or glass bottles.

The table below shows information about these two containers.

	HDPE Plastic Bottle	Glass Bottle
Raw Materials	Crude oil	Sand, soda ash, and limestone
Manufacture	Fractional distillation of crude oil, polymerisation, and blow moulding.	Quarrying raw materials, melting mixture at over $1500∘C1500^\circ\text{C}$ in a furnace, and blowing into shape.
Using the product	Lightweight and durable. Usually single-use before recycling or disposal.	Heavy but sturdy. Can be washed, sterilised, and reused up to 25 times.
Disposal of the product	Recyclable (usually downcycled with some loss of quality). Non-biodegradable; takes up space in landfill.	Fully recyclable infinitely with no loss of quality. Non-biodegradable; chemically inert in landfill.

Improving processes and products