10.2 Life cycle assessment and recycling

• An LCA evaluates the environmental impact of a product from raw materials to disposal.


  True
• Match the environmental impact with recycling's effect:

  Resource Conservation ↔️ Reduces the need to extract virgin resources

  Energy Saving ↔️ Uses less energy than new manufacturing

  Waste Reduction ↔️ Decreases landfill waste
• Recycling reduces the environmental impact of mining and deforestation on natural habitats.


  True
• A life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates the environmental impact of a product or service across its entire life cycle
• Match each stage of an LCA with its key environmental impact:

  Raw Materials ↔️ Resource depletion ||| Pollution from extraction

  Manufacturing ↔️ Energy consumption ||| Greenhouse gas emissions

  Usage ↔️ Energy consumption ||| Waste production

  Disposal ↔️ Pollution ||| Landfill usage
• Recycling conserves resources by reusing materials, reducing the need to extract virgin resources.


  True
• Recycling helps preserve natural habitats by reducing the impact of mining and deforestation.

  True
• Match each environmental impact with the effect of recycling:

  Resource Conservation ↔️ Recovers materials for reuse

  Energy Saving ↔️ Uses less energy than new manufacturing

  Waste Reduction ↔️ Decreases waste to landfills

  Habitat Preservation ↔️ Reduces mining and deforestation
• Recycling recovers materials for reuse, reducing the need to extract virgin resources
• Recycling decreases the amount of waste sent to landfills
• Arrange the following recycling methods with their environmental benefits:

  1️⃣ Paper - Pulping and re-manufacturing into new paper products - Reduces deforestation and landfill waste

  2️⃣ Plastic - Melting and re-molding into new plastic products - Reduces plastic pollution and conserves fossil fuels

  3️⃣ Glass - Crushing and re-melting into new glass containers - Reduces mining of raw materials and landfill waste

  4️⃣ Metal - Smelting and re-casting into new metal products - Conserves finite metal resources and reduces mining impacts

  5️⃣ Electronics - Disassembly and recovery of valuable components - Reduces e-waste and recovers scarce materials
• Reusable coffee cups have 50% lower impact than disposable cups.
• What does LCA stand for in environmental science?

  Life Cycle Assessment
• The LCA process evaluates the environmental impact of a product or service across its entire life cycle
• What are the key environmental impacts of the raw materials stage in an LCA?

  Resource depletion, pollution
• How does recycling contribute to energy saving?

  Uses less energy
• The raw materials stage in an LCA is associated with resource depletion and pollution
• Arrange the stages of a life cycle assessment in their correct sequence:

  1️⃣ Raw Materials

  2️⃣ Manufacturing

  3️⃣ Usage

  4️⃣ Disposal
• Recycling reduces environmental impact by addressing key environmental problems
• Recycling processes use less energy than manufacturing new products from raw materials.
• Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy needed to produce it from raw materials.
• Recycling reduces the environmental impact of products and services by conserving resources and reducing waste.


  True
• Recycling processes use less energy compared to manufacturing new products from raw materials.


  True
• Recycling helps preserve natural habitats by reducing the impact of mining and deforestation.

  True
• Match each material with its recycling method and environmental benefit:

  Paper ↔️ Pulping and re-manufacturing into new products ||| Reduces deforestation and landfill waste

  Plastic ↔️ Melting and re-molding into new products ||| Reduces plastic pollution and conserves fossil fuels

  Glass ↔️ Crushing and re-melting into new containers ||| Reduces mining of raw materials and landfill waste

  Metal ↔️ Smelting and re-casting into new products ||| Conserves finite metal resources and reduces mining impacts
• Recycling aluminum reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 95% compared to new production.


  True