AS-Level Chemistry Chapter 5 States of Matter Conserving Materials

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Conserving Materials

Why conserve materials?

1) There is only a limited supply of metal ores in the Earth. Therefore metals are finite resources. They do not get replaced once they are used up.

Ways to conserve materials

1) One way to conserve materials is through recycling.

2) Advantages of recycling:

i. Recycling saves new resources.
ii. Recycling reduces the amount of waste materials to be disposed off.
iii. Recycling saves energy because less energy is needed to recycle metals than to extract it from their ores.
iv. Recycling protects the environment because it reduces pollution associated with product manufacture, disposal and littering. For example, the process of extracting metals produces gases which can lead to acid rain.

3) Two metals that can be recycled easily are copper and aluminium. Glass can also be recycled easily.

4) Another way to conserve materials is using renewable resources. Examples are like water, wood, sunlight, wind and etcetera.