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| what are the disadvantages of LCAs | -the amount of waste products released, required energy and water used is hard to be certain on how damaging they are to the environment and estimates aren't always as accurate
-they can be biased e.g. to support claims by advertisers |
| why are life cycle assessments used | to assess the environmental impact a product had over its lifetime |
| what is stage one | assessing the environmental impact of extracting and processing the raw materials |
| assess the environmental impact of extracting and processing a product that has plastic | -plastic is made from crude oil
-crude oil is extracted from the ground and then transported to oil refineries
-the hydrocarbons are separated and cracked to produce a polymer which takes a large amount of energy
-the energy is usually generated by burning fossil fuels which leads to climate change |
| assess the environmental impact of extracting and processing a metal | -the metal has to be dug out
-transported for processing
-the metals need to be extracted which requires a very large amount of energy and high amounts of waste product |
| what is stage two | once the raw materials are produced, we manufacture the product, package it and transport which requires energy and releases harmful waste products |
| what is stage three | assessing the environmental impact a product had during its lifetime |
| assess the impact of a toy with batteries | producing batteries releases harmful waste products |
| what is stage four | assessing the disposal of the product at the end of its useful life |
| assess the disposal of a product with harmful chemicals | the product needs to be disposed of carefully which requires a lot of energy |
| where does a lot of energy go to when disposing of a product | the transport of the products to somewhere like a landfill |
| compare the environmental impact of a plastic and paper bag on the environment | -plastic bags are made from crude oil which is nonrenewable, paper bags are made from trees which are renewable
-extracting crude oil is harmful to habitats bc oil spills, felling trees down for wood is also destructive to habitats
-both wood and crude oil have to be chemically processed which requires a large amount of energy and releases waste products, paper bags require huge amounts of water
-plastic bags are strong and can be reused, paper bags tend to tear and are only really used once
-they both need transporting to landfills of for recycling, paper bags are heavier than plastic bags so require more energy to transport
-plastic bags are non biodegradable and can't be broken down by microorganisms, paper can
-plastic bags stay in the environment for a long time, they're litter and fill landfills |
| what are the disadvantages of LCAs | -the amount of waste products released, required energy and water used is hard to be certain on how damaging they are to the environment and estimates aren't always as accurate
-they can be biased e.g. to support claims by advertisers |
| what are the disadvantages of LCAs | -the amount of waste products released, required energy and water used is hard to be certain on how damaging they are to the environment and estimates aren't always as accurate
-they can be biased e.g. to support claims by advertisers |
