Recycling

Question 1

why is it important to conserve fossil fuels

Answer 1

• because they are running out

- and burning them contributes to acid rain and climate change

Question 2

what does the extraction of raw materials lead to the burning of lots of fossil fuels

Answer 2

• because it can take lots of energy

- which leads to the requirement of burning lots of ofssil fuels

Question 3

why does recycling material save energy

Answer 3

the process often only uses a small fraction of energy needed to extract and refine the material from scratch

Question 4

why is it important to recycle materials that are rare

Answer 4

• because there is a finite amount of them

- and many of them are non-renewable

Question 5

what are the disadvantages of using mines

Answer 5

• they are damaging to the environment
• they destroy habitats
• they are aesthetically unappealing

Question 6

why should we recycle materials if we dont like using mines

Answer 6

because recycling materials means that we dont have to use them as much

Question 7

how does recycling benefit the economy

Answer 7

• it saves money as the extracting requires more energy than refining
• recycling materials that are expensive to extract or buy can be particularly beneficial

Question 8

what is an advantage that comes with recycling in terms of jobs

Answer 8

• it is a massive industry that creates lots of jobs
• the materials to be recycled need to be transported to and processed at recycling centres
• they then need to be reprocessed into new products which can be sold
• jobs are created for every stage of this process, far more than disposing of waste in landfill

Question 9

what would be the direct effect of not recycling aluminium and how much ore would you need to mine

Answer 9

• you would need to mine more aluminium ore

- 4 tonnes for every 1 tonne of aluminium you need

Question 10

what disadvantages come with the mining of aluminium ore

Answer 10

• you make a mess of the landscape as they are often in rain forests
• the ore needs to be transported and the aluminium extracted which uses lots of electricity
• then you have the costs of sending the used aluminium to landfill

Question 11

what is the effect of every 1kg of aluminium cans you recycle

Answer 11

• you save about 95% of the energy needed to mine and extract fresh aluminium
• you save 4k aluminium ore
• and prevent a lot of waste