What is a finite resource?

one that is used up faster than it is replaced. Ores take millions of years to form.

Which is an example of reuse?

refilling a glass bottle. Reuse means the same item is used again without being remade.

Why does recycling save energy?

reprocessing used metal needs less energy than extracting it from ore. Extraction from ore is the costly step.

What makes a law on recycling effective?

enforcement, with inspections and fines. A law that nobody checks changes nothing.

Glass fibre cables are used in place of copper wire. Which strategy is this?

use of alternative materials. A plentiful material replaces a scarce one.

Which three things make people more likely to recycle?

accessibility, ease and education. Recycling has to be close by, simple, and understood.

Using rocks, ores and minerals sustainably · Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management

In plain words

There is only so much copper in the ground, and it is not being made any more. Using it sustainably means making what we have go further, so that people a hundred years from now still have some.

10 things to know

A finite resource is a natural resource that is used up faster than it is replaced. Rocks, ores and minerals take millions of years to form, so they are finite.
Sustainable management of resources means using strategies that meet the needs of people today without stopping future generations from meeting their own needs.
Reduce: use less of the material in the first place, with lighter designs and less packaging. Reuse: use the same item again, such as a refillable glass bottle.
Recycling: used materials are collected and made into new products. Recycling a metal uses much less energy than extracting it from ore, and it saves ore and landfill space.
People recycle more when it is accessible, with collection points close by, when it is easy, with simple sorting, and when education has shown them why it matters.
Increased efficiency of extraction: better technology gets more metal out of each tonne of ore, and can recover metal from low-grade ores and old waste heaps. Less is wasted.
Avoiding resource depletion: limits on how much may be extracted each year make a deposit last longer.
Legislation: laws can require recycling, limit extraction and require restoration. Laws only work with enforcement, which means inspections, fines and the loss of licences.
Use of alternative materials: a scarce material is replaced by a more plentiful one, such as glass fibre cables in place of copper wire.
Limitations. Recycling needs collection, sorting and energy, and some products are hard to take apart. Enforcement costs money. Limits on mining mean fewer jobs. An alternative material has impacts of its own.

Worked example

A city recycles only 10% of its aluminium cans. Suggest three ways to raise this figure.

Make it accessible: put collection bins in streets, shops and schools, or collect from homes.
Make it easy: one bin for all cans, with clear labels, so nobody has to work out the sorting.
Use education: teach in schools and on posters that recycling saves energy and ore.
A law could add a small deposit to each can, paid back when the can is returned.

Tips and tricks

Give the three Rs in their order of value: reduce first, then reuse, then recycle. Recycling still uses energy.
A law on its own earns little credit. Say how it would be enforced.

6 questions, about 2 minutes.

It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.

Using rocks, ores and minerals sustainably: 6 questions and answers

These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.

What is a finite resource?
- one that can never be recycled
- one that is used up faster than it is replaced (the answer)
- one that is found only underground
- one that is replaced as fast as it is used
Ores take millions of years to form.
Which is an example of reuse?
- melting cans to make new cans
- making cans from thinner metal
- refilling a glass bottle (the answer)
- burying waste in landfill
Reuse means the same item is used again without being remade.
Why does recycling save energy?
- reprocessing used metal needs less energy than extracting it from ore (the answer)
- recycled metal is lighter
- recycling plants need no electricity
- ore gives out energy when mined
Extraction from ore is the costly step.
What makes a law on recycling effective?
- printing it in a newspaper
- making it very long
- applying it only to large companies
- enforcement, with inspections and fines (the answer)
A law that nobody checks changes nothing.
Glass fibre cables are used in place of copper wire. Which strategy is this?
- reuse
- recycling
- increased efficiency of extraction
- use of alternative materials (the answer)
A plentiful material replaces a scarce one.
Which three things make people more likely to recycle?Stretch
- cost, colour and weight
- accessibility, ease and education (the answer)
- legislation, mining and demand
- exploration, geology and climate
Recycling has to be close by, simple, and understood.

6 questions

Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.

Worksheet

3 questions, 7 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.

Using rocks, ores and minerals sustainably

Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management 0680 · 7 marks · papermunch.org

Name ______________________________ Date ______________

Define the term finite resource.[2]
Show answerHide answer
A natural resource that is used up at a faster rate than it is replaced.
I got this one
Explain why recycling metals is more sustainable than mining new ore.[2]
Show answerHide answer
It uses much less energy than extraction. It conserves the ore, so the finite resource lasts longer. (Also: less waste goes to landfill; less land is damaged by mining.)
I got this one
Describe three strategies, other than recycling, for the sustainable management of minerals.[3]
Show answerHide answer
Any three: reduce the amount used; reuse products; extract more efficiently; limit how much is extracted; pass and enforce laws; use alternative materials.
I got this one

Answers: Using rocks, ores and minerals sustainably

1. A natural resource that is used up at a faster rate than it is replaced.
2. It uses much less energy than extraction. It conserves the ore, so the finite resource lasts longer. (Also: less waste goes to landfill; less land is damaged by mining.)
3. Any three: reduce the amount used; reuse products; extract more efficiently; limit how much is extracted; pass and enforce laws; use alternative materials.