IELTS Examiner / Practice Prompt Bank — GT & Academic / Academic Task 1
IELTS Academic Task 1: Process Diagram — Environment & recycling
Original practice prompt written in exam style — not a real exam question, and not a prediction.
The diagram below shows how plastic bottles are recycled. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. The process is as follows. First, used plastic bottles are collected from households and public recycling bins and transported by truck to a recycling plant. At the plant, the bottles are sorted by colour and type, and any unsuitable items are removed. The sorted bottles are then washed to remove labels and dirt, and crushed into small flakes. Next, the flakes are heated and melted down, and the liquid plastic is filtered to remove impurities. After that, the plastic is formed into small pellets. In the final stages, these pellets are sold to manufacturers, who melt them again and turn them into new products such as bottles, fibres for clothing or plastic containers, after which the cycle can begin again.
Examiner focus: A cycle, not a line: flag the return to new products at the end, and keep collection/sorting separate from the melting stages.
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