6. Life Cycle Assessment (long questions)

Question 1

What are the main stages of a life cycle assessment?

Answer 1

1. making materials for the product from the raw materials needed
2. manufacturing the product
3. transport of the product (and raw materials)
4. using the product
5. disposing of the product at the end of its useful life

Question 2

What 3 things are considered at each stage of the life cycle assessment?

Answer 2

• use of raw materials (including water)
• use of energy
• release of waste substances into the environment

Question 3

What are the impacts of obtaining raw materials from the environment?

Answer 3

• using up limited resources, such as ores and crude oil
• damaging habitats through quarrying, mining or felling trees

Question 4

Where are raw materials found?

Answer 4

On the earth’s crust (the outer layer of the earth, on top of the mantle)

Question 5

What are the impacts of manufacturing on the environment?

Answer 5

• using up land for factories
• production of polluting waste (emitted into rivers or the atmosphere)

Question 6

what does the transport of both the final product, and the raw materials used to make a product require?

Answer 6

energy

Question 7

What do incinerators do?

Answer 7

they burn polymer waste and use the energy to generate electricity that can then power people’s homes.

Question 8

What happens during recycling?

Answer 8

During recycling, products are broken down into the materials used to make them. These materials can then be used to make something else.

Question 9

What are the environmental impacts of the method of disposal of old products?

Answer 9

• using up land for landfill sites
• release of waste gases during incineration
• use of energy and production of waste substances if the product is recycled
• reduction in impact if the waste product is reused

Question 10

What is planned obsolescence?

Answer 10

When a product is deliberately designed to have a specific life span. This is usually a shortened life span

Question 11

What is design for maintenance?

Answer 11

this can be achieved by designing products that can be repaired and maintained

Question 12

What is disposability?

Answer 12

some products are designed to be disposable

Question 13

What is the lifecycle of a newspaper?

Answer 13

1. Trees are cut down in sustainable forests and combined with recycled paper. This is converted to wood pulp and then processed into large rolls of paper
2. Rolls of paper are used to produce the daily newspapers and magazines for the customer.
3. After the customer has read the newspapers, they are put in recycling bins or dumped in dust-bins where they end up in a land-fill. Some newspaper is shredded and used to protect goods inside packages
4. Newspapers from recycling bins is processed back into pulp. This is combined with new pulp from trees and processed into large rolls of paper

Question 14

How do you consider the environmental awareness of a product?

Answer 14

Consider the life cycle of the product - how long will it be used for? How will it be disposed of?

Question 15

What is the life-cycle assessment?

Answer 15

The analysis of the impact of a product on the environment throughout the manufacture, use and disposal of that product