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GCSE Chemistry › C10.1 Sustainable development and life cycle assessment
Free AQA GCSE Chemistry practice questions on Sustainable development and life cycle assessment. Sample questions below with detailed mark schemes — sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
A mobile phone manufacturer is assessing the environmental impact of producing a new smartphone. The company wants to understand all stages of the product's life, from raw material extraction through to disposal, to make it more sustainable.
A manufacturing company produces plastic water bottles. They are conducting a life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare the environmental impact of their current production method with a proposed sustainable alternative. The current method uses virgin plastic and generates 2.4 kg of CO₂ equivalent per bottle produced. The proposed method uses 60% recycled plastic and generates 0.9 kg of CO₂ equivalent per bottle. The company produces 500,000 bottles annually.
A manufacturing company produces plastic water bottles. During a life cycle assessment, they analyse the energy consumption at different stages: raw material extraction (450 MJ), manufacturing (320 MJ), transportation (85 MJ), and end-of-life recycling (120 MJ). The company wants to reduce their environmental impact and is considering switching to recycled plastic, which would reduce the extraction stage energy to 180 MJ.
A manufacturer produces reusable shopping bags made from organic cotton. The company claims these bags are more sustainable than single-use plastic bags. However, a life cycle assessment (LCA) shows that producing one organic cotton bag requires significantly more water and energy than manufacturing a plastic bag. The cotton bag must be reused approximately 150 times before its total environmental impact equals that of a single plastic bag.
A life cycle assessment was conducted to compare the carbon footprint of producing paper bags versus plastic bags for a supermarket chain. Producing one paper bag releases 50 g of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, while producing one plastic bag releases 15 g of carbon dioxide.