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Product Evaluation
Quick questions on Sustainability and the product life cycle explained: O-Level Design and Technology
3short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the product life cycle?Show answer
The life cycle of a product is all the stages it passes through during its existence:
What is environmental impact at each stage?Show answer
Impact comes from the energy used, the resources consumed, and the waste and emissions created. Raw-material extraction can damage habitats; manufacture and transport burn energy and emit carbon; the use stage may consume electricity for years; and disposal can fill landfill with materials that do not break down. Identifying where a product's biggest impacts fall tells the designer where to focus improvements.
What is designing for the whole life cycle?Show answer
A sustainable design reduces impact at several stages: choosing recyclable or renewable materials (raw materials and disposal), using less material (manufacture), designing compactly to cut transport (distribution), making it energy-efficient and durable (use), and designing it to be repaired and recycled (disposal). Evaluating against sustainability means asking, at each stage, how the impact could be lowered.
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