1. 1
   A supermarket is deciding whether to offer customers plastic or paper shopping bags, and commissions a life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare the environmental impact of the two options.

   (a)

   Which of the following is one of the four stages considered in a life cycle assessment?

   [1 mark]

   • AExtracting and processing raw materials
   • BAdvertising and marketing the product
   • CSetting the retail price of the product
   • DTraining staff to sell the product

   (b)

   The LCA report notes that plastic bags require crude oil extraction and processing, while paper bags require growing and processing trees. Which stage of the LCA does this information relate to?

   [1 mark]

   • ADisposal at the end of the product's life
   • BExtracting and processing raw materials
   • CUse and operation during the product's lifetime
   • DManufacturing and packaging

   (c)

   The LCA report states that some parts of the assessment, such as water and energy use, could be measured accurately, but that assigning a numerical value to the pollution caused by each bag type was much harder. Explain why LCA is not considered a purely objective process.

   [2 marks]

   Total for question 1: 4 marks

2. 2
   A car manufacturer is criticised by an environmental group for publishing a life cycle assessment (LCA) of one of its vehicles that only considers the manufacturing stage and ignores fuel use during the vehicle's lifetime and disposal at the end of its life.

   (a)

   A car manufacturer is criticised for publishing an LCA of one of its vehicles that only considers the manufacturing stage and ignores fuel use and disposal. What is this type of LCA best described as?

   [1 mark]

   • AAn LCA carried out by an independent regulator
   • BA fully comprehensive LCA
   • CAn LCA that follows all four stages equally
   • DA selective or abbreviated LCA

   (b)

   Why might a company choose to publish a selective or abbreviated LCA, as in this scenario?

   [1 mark]

   • ABecause selective LCAs are always more accurate
   • BBecause full LCAs are illegal to carry out
   • CTo reach a predetermined, more favourable conclusion about the product
   • DBecause only the manufacturing stage produces any environmental impact

   (c)

   Explain why ignoring the use and disposal stages of the car's life cycle could give a misleading impression of its overall environmental impact.

   [2 marks]

   Total for question 2: 4 marks

3. 3
   A metal recycling centre collects used aluminium drinks cans from households, melts them down, and recasts the aluminium into new cans, rather than extracting new aluminium from ore.

   (a)

   Describe how recycling metals in this way helps to reduce the use of limited resources.

   [3 marks]

   (b)

   The recycling centre is deciding whether to invest in new equipment to increase the proportion of cans that are recycled, rather than sent to landfill. Evaluate the advantages and any limitations of increasing metal recycling as a way of reducing the use of limited resources.

   [4 marks]

   Total for question 3: 7 marks

4. 4
   A packaging company is deciding between continuing to produce single-use plastic bottles from crude oil, or switching to reusable glass bottles that are collected, washed and refilled by the company. An independent researcher is asked to carry out a full life cycle assessment comparing the two options.

   (a)

   Discuss what factors the researcher should consider at each of the four LCA stages, and how the conclusions might differ from a selective LCA that only considered raw material extraction.

   [6 marks]

   (b)

   A rival packaging company, wishing to promote its own plastic bottles, commissions its own LCA but only reports the disposal stage, highlighting that its plastic can be recycled, while omitting data on raw material extraction and manufacturing energy use. Discuss why this selective reporting could be considered misleading, and what a genuinely fair comparison would need to include.

   [6 marks]

   Total for question 4: 12 marks

End of questions