Explain why glass bottles are considered more environmentally friendly than single-use plastic bottles when assessing their impact on the use of Earth's resources.

AQA GCSE Chemistry (8462) — 4.10.1 Using the Earth's resources and obtaining potable water · Explain · 4 marks · View as Markdown

Written & reviewed by James Millett — Biology (Imperial College London), PGCE Science (University of Cambridge).

Model answer (4 marks)

Glass bottles can be reused directly by refilling, allowing many uses before disposal.
They can also be recycled: crushed and melted to produce new glass items.
Both reusing and recycling reduce the need for new raw materials, which are limited Earth resources.
This lowers the environmental impact of quarrying or mining for those raw materials.

Examiner tips

  • Mention both reuse and recycling, linking each to reduced raw material demand.
  • Show the chain: less extraction → lower environmental impact.
  • Use terms like "finite resources" and "quarrying/mining".
  • Keep answer concise to fit 4 marks.

Common mistakes

  • Failing to state that glass can be reused and recycled. Using vague phrases like "less waste" without linking to raw materials. Including irrelevant details such as energy use in recycling.

Mark scheme (4 marks)

  1. Glass bottles can be reused (directly refilled) multiple times
  2. Glass bottles can also be recycled — crushed and melted to make different glass products
  3. Reusing or recycling glass reduces the amount of raw materials (limited/finite resources) that need to be extracted
  4. This reduces the environmental impact of quarrying or mining for raw materials

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