IB ESS HL 7.3 Solid Waste Question Bank

430 million tonnes;
Note: accept +/- 10 million tonnes. Units must be included for credit.

(700 million tonnes / 9200 million tonnes) =7.6 (\%)

a. incinerated plastic may release $\mathrm{CO}_{2}$ /toxic gases/ashes/greenhouse gases;
b. incinerated plastic would be reduced in volume;
c. incinerated plastic may be used to produce electricity reducing need for fossil fuels;
d. discarded plastic will take up space in landfill;
e. discarded plastic may enter oceans/food chains/mistaken for food and ingested/cause physical harm to species;
f. discarded plastic causes visual pollution/beach litter/affects aesthetic value/ property value/tourism;
g. incineration may reduce urgency to recycle/reduce waste;
h. discarded plastic may release methane in sunlight;

Note: Allow 1 max if response addresses only discarded or only incinerated plastic.

a. recycling/reusing plastics so that less needs to be produced;
b. regulations/laws/bans limiting the amount of plastic that can be produced;
c. increasing taxes/prices on plastics to discourage production / consumption;
d. campaigns/education to change human behaviour/plastic consumption;
e. development of biodegradable substitutes (e.g. starch "plastic") / use alternative packaging;

Note: Accept other valid and reasoned response

$600 \mathrm{~kg} / \mathrm{yr} / 600 \mathrm{~kg} \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$;
Units required for credit

a. Slovakia has more campaigns to educate the public on the reduction of waste;
b. Slovakia has laws to require less material used in packaging/reusing materials / stricter laws/regulations regarding littering;
c. Slovakia taxes/charges a higher fee on waste disposal;
d. Slovakia subsidizes home composters / citizens compost more at home (reducing organic material wasted);
e. Malta has more packaging due to higher levels of imported goods;
f. Malta may have a higher consumerism attitude/cornucopian / Slovakia may favor a self-sustained life-style/ecocentric;
g. Malta receives more tourists (per capita) than Slovakia;
h. Malta authorities estimate/measure waste weight more accurately;
i. Less gardens in Slovakia generate less yard trimmings; j. Slovakia may have more efficient technology that produces less waste;

Note to examiners: No credit for economic reasons, as the two countries have practically the same income level.
No credit for reference to differences in waste disposal methods, as these would not reduce per capita waste production; only manage them more efficiently.
No credit if statement does not indicate the higher amount of waste produced in Malta.
No credit for difference in population size, as this does not impact "per capita" value.

(As income level increases) the use of incineration increases/ positive correlation;

Note to examiners: No credit for stating that low and lower-middle income countries do not practice incineration at all; this is not a trend.

a. As incomes rise incineration plants become more affordable / incineration requires huge initial investment/entails high maintenance cost;
b. Technological advances allow for waste to energy production (available only in higher income countries);
c. As incomes rise, there is more waste that needs to be dealt with/landfills would fill up faster, increasing the need for incineration;
d. Higher skilled workers required (available only in higher-income countries);
e. As incomes rise, EVS may shift/better education promotes sustainability/decrease in the environmental impacts of landfills/open dumps;
f. because land values might increase, resulting in a desire for more space efficient solutions;

Note to examiners: Accept ECF only if the reason linked is valid for the response in 1c(i).

Advantage [2 max]:
a. Can reduce the amount of primary resources used/consumed/mined/(e.g. by manufacturing products from recycled material);
b. Reduces the amount of waste going to landfill/incineration/less land required for landfills;
c. Has potentially lower risk of producing pollutants/greenhouse gases/leachate contamination of water resources;
d. Potential to create more jobs;
e. May raise environmental consciousness / promote more sustainable consumer behavior;
f. Reduces ecological footprint / protects wildlife/ecosystems;
g. After initial (high) investment (for setup and operation), it may prove to be cheaper than most other disposal methods;

Disadvantage [2 max]:
h. Recycling facilities can be expensive/require high levels of technological expertise/energy intensive to setup/operate/maintain;
i. The infrastructure required for collection can be demanding/expensive to organize/operate;
j. Recycling may not reduce the consumer production of waste / may give a (false) sense of fulfilling obligations towards environmental protection;
k. Not all waste can be recycled / some can only be recycled a number of times;
I. Recycling can lead to some pollution too (toxic chemicals used in recycling process);
m. products made from recycled material are of lower quality;
n. may be difficult to enforce public compliance with recycling procedures;

Note to examiners: One mark can be credited for a balanced appraisal. Example. Although recycling can be expensive for low income countries the reduction of water and air pollution makes it a positive choice for the overall health and wellbeing of its citizens.

No credit to "recycling reduces the amount of waste produced" as this is not valid.

Wood;

Describe one possible reason why paper/cardboard waste has double the overall carbon impact of that of metal waste in Figure.
a. Metal waste is recycled while paper is not/is recycled less (in Scotland, not in general) / metal recycling is easier/more effective than recycling paper;
b. More paper waste is put into landfill than metal waste / landfill increases the overall carbon impact due to decomposition/methane release;

Note to examiners: Do not credit reference to production of paper vs. metal waste, as these values are equal.

Outline two disadvantages of using landfill to dispose of paper/cardboard, as shown in Figure.
a. Paper waste overall increases the amount of land required for landfills / reduces space useful for farming/habitats/other uses;
b. Reduces potential to be recycled / thus more paper must be produced from raw material / leading to forestry loss/clearcutting/more energy/water spent/increased carbon impact;
c. Causes littering due to being blown by wind;
d. Decomposition of paper releases GHG (methane) / is slower than in soil;
e. Significantly adds up to trash volume / increases toxic leachate polluting soil/water;
f. Increased chance of self-ignition/fire releasing GHGs/air pollutants;

Note to examiners: Do not credit general disadvantages of landfills not clearly linked to paper waste.

Outline two disadvantages with recycling metal as an approach to decreasing carbon impacts, as shown in Figure.
a. Some metals cannot be recycled;
b. Metal waste is a minor/relatively small contributor to carbon impacts compared to other categories;
c. Recycling of metals has low carbon reduction impact in proportion to production of metal;
d. Many metal objects can be reused, which is more efficient than recycling;
e. Difficult/time-consuming to separate different metals/remove paint/oil/dirt/clean metal before recycling;
f. The recycling process, usually, needs high energy inputs from fossil fuels;

Note to examiners: No credit for "lower quality of recycled metal" or being costly and inefficient.

animal/food waste in Scotland.
a. Municipalities can invest in community compost collection / local composting;
b. Incentives for more/improved food storage appliances/freezers/refrigerators/ technologies;
c. Implementation of/legislation towards more efficient farming practices reducing food waste / e.g. precision harvesting technique/train workers for selective harvesting/ promote efficient crop residue management systems to reduce food waste going to landfills;
d. Sell sub-optimal farming products to juice makers/soup producers/sauce manufacturers / encourage supermarket groups to sell 'slightly imperfect fruit and vegetables / people eating slightly misshapen fruit rather than wasting them;
e. Feeding properly treated food scraps to farmed animals;
f. Citizens/families preparing food with less waste / efficiently plan meals / restaurants efficiently managing portion size/donating leftovers;
g. Promote vegetarianism, as meat industry, in general, produces more food waste / leads to more methane release;
h. Promote/invest/apply modern technologies reducing food waste / e.g. single-cell protein food production (minimizes food waste) / genetically modified crops that spoil later;
i. Using food waste for biomass energy production (is considered carbon neutral);

Notes to examiners: Credit any other valid strategy that produces less food waste or reduces release of food waste to the environment or removes it from the environment without increasing carbon impact; e.g. no credit to "incinerating food waste".

Marking guidance:

Allow credit for "food recycling", but consider sim to MPs a, e \& i.
Do not credit "consume/produce less food" on their own.