Minimising Waste Production

Question 1

What are the 4 Rs at the end of life stage?

Answer 1

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recover
• Recycle

Question 2

What is does reduce entail?

Answer 2

Reduce the quantities of any material chosen, where it be in the manufacture or the packaging

Question 3

How could a product be reduced for its end of life?

Answer 3

• Consider materials and design they use
• Examine ways of eliminating or reducing the packaging e.g. change design, improve cleanliness, better handling, JIT delivery or bulk delivery
• Optimise packaging use e.g. match packaging to level of protection needed

Question 4

What does reuse entail?

Answer 4

Minimises the extraction and processing of raw materials and the energy and resources required for recycling

Question 5

Give one example of reuse

Answer 5

Door-step delivery of glass milk bottles, which are returnable and refillable

Question 6

What does recover entail?

Answer 6

Manufacture of a product requires energy, if it it sent to landfill then all this energy is lost

Question 7

How much of Sweden’s waste is recovered in energy from waste plants?

Answer 7

47%

Question 8

What does recycling entail?

Answer 8

Takes waste materials and products and reprocesses them to manufacture something new

Question 9

How is steel formed from scrap metal?

Answer 9

Using an electric arc furnace, scrap metal is processed into high-quality tool steel and stainless steel

Question 10

How is copper formed from scrap metal?

Answer 10

75-80% scrap copper is processed in blast furnaces, or electric arc furnaces, to produce high-quality copper

Question 11

How is aluminium formed from scrap metal?

Answer 11

Temps of 660°C required. To produce ‘virgin’ aluminium using Hall-Heroult process, requires temps of 900°C

Question 12

What are Remarkable Pencils?

Answer 12

Pencils and other stationary made from recycled plastic vending cups

Question 13

How many pencils are produced per day?

Answer 13

20,000