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Process diagram: Glass bottle recycling

Pick out the main features of this process diagram for your overview, write your report on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model answer.

WRITING TASK 1

Process diagram

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The diagram below shows the process of recycling glass bottles.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Glass bottle recycling
  1. 1CollectionUsed bottles are left in bottle banks
  2. 2TransportLorries take the glass to a recycling plant
  3. 3SortingBottles are separated by colour
  4. 4CrushingGlass is broken into small pieces called cullet
  5. 5CleaningMagnets and screens remove labels and metal
  6. 6MeltingCullet is mixed with raw materials and melted
  7. 7MouldingMolten glass is blown into new bottles
  8. 8DistributionBottles are filled and sold in shops

The cycle then repeats from stage 1.

GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.

What your overview should say

An overview names the main trends or differences in one or two sentences, without numbers. These are the features a strong answer picks out:

  1. 1Overall, glass recycling is a cyclical process with eight stages, in which used bottles are turned into new ones that return to the shops and are then collected again.
  2. 2After bottles are collected and transported, they are sorted by colour, crushed into cullet and cleaned of labels and metal.
  3. 3The cullet is then melted with raw materials and blown into new bottles, which are filled and sold.

Write it on the clock

Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.

20:00

0 words of 150 minimum

Your answer stays on this page only. Copy it before you leave.

Band-8 model answer

Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.

Show model answer (179 words)

The diagram illustrates the process by which used glass bottles are recycled into new ones.

Overall, the process is a cycle of eight stages. Used bottles are collected, cleaned and melted, and they are eventually turned into new bottles, which are sold and then returned to the bottle banks. The first four stages prepare the glass, while the remaining four turn it back into bottles.

The process begins with collection, when used bottles are left in bottle banks by the public. Lorries then transport the glass to a recycling plant, where the bottles are separated according to their colour. After that, the glass is crushed, or broken into small pieces known as cullet.

In the next stage, the cullet is cleaned. Magnets and screens are used to remove any labels and metal. The clean cullet is then mixed with raw materials and melted.

Finally, the molten glass is blown into new bottles, which are filled and sold in shops. Once the bottles have been used, they are again left in bottle banks, so the process starts all over again.

Useful vocabulary

PhraseMeaning
bottle bankcontainer for used glass
sort by colourseparate according to hue
culletbroken glass for recycling
melt downheat until liquid
be blown intobe shaped by air
raw materialsbasic natural ingredients

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