Reducing The Use Of Resources Flashcards
What is a life-cycle assessment (LCA)?
Beginning until the end of life analysis of the impact of a manufactured product on the environment
What is the purpose of an LCA?
To determine the environmental factors of the product
What are the main stages of an LCA?
What do assessors asses for in each stage?
- Extracting and processing the raw materials needed
- renewability
- where they are found- using limited sources?(ores +crude oil) Damaging habitats?(through quarrying, mining or felling trees)
- transportation (how far) - Manufacturing the product and its packaging
- by-products
- processes- using up land for factories? Use of machines and people?
- recyclability - Distribution of the product
- transportation
- environmental impacts
- by-products - Using the product during its lifetime
- environmental impact- significance (wooden chair only needs cleaning, car petrol so significant)
- life time - Disposing of the product at the end of its useful life
- biodegradability
- recyclability
- landfill or incinerations (high temp burning, rapid oxidation, of a waste)
- reusability
What is meant by recycling?
Reusing materials or reprocessing waste materials to produce new materials
What are the advantages to recycling
- fewer quarries + mines requires to extract finite reserves of metal ores
- less crude oil required to be extracted from the crust as a raw material (for making plastics)
- less energy required- green house emissions reduced
(For recycling compared to making new product from raw materials) - waste disposed in landfill reduced
What are the disadvantages of recycling?
- collection + transport of items requires:
>organisation
>workers
>vehicles
>fuel - difficult to sort out different metals from one another
- sorted metal may need to be transported to be turned into ingots (a block of solid metal)
Describe bioleaching
Bacteria feed on low grade ores (small percentage of metal-so pro) converting copper compounds in the ore into soluble copper compounds, separating the copper from the ore.
This produces a leachate (solution produced by the process) containing copper ions. NOT FINISHED YET
Pure copper can then be extracted by displacement or electrolysis
Describe phytomining
Plants are grown in soil that contains copper.
Use the plants to absorb copper ions from low grade copper ore as they grow. As the plants can’t get rid or use the copper so it builds up in the leaves.
The plants are harvested and burnt in a furnace
The ash left behind contains soluble copper (metal) compounds.
Copper ions are leached (dissolved) from ash by adding sulfuric acid to make copper sulfate solution
Pure copper can then be extracted by displacement or electrolysis
What are the advantages and disadvantages to phytoextraction/ phytomining?
Cons- slow process
Pro- reduces the need to obtain new ore by mining
Pro- conserves limited supplies of more valuable ores with higher metal content
What are the advantages and disadvantages of bioleaching?
Con- produces toxic chemicals
Pro- does not need high temperatures
Define reduce
Use NEW products less
Define reuse
Use products already existing multiple times
Define recycle
Reusing materials or reprocessing waste materials to reprduce new materials
Why is recycling important?
- some resources are finite
- converting raw materials into finished goods
- products require lots of energy often
- reduces the volume of fossil fuels burnt when making products
Why is recycling important? LCAs
- uses less energy than making from scratch
- preserves wildlife/ keeps habitats safe
- saves money
- saves space
- reduces waste
- things can be reused again and again
- reduces litter and mess
