Question

Read the text and study the graph.

As director of Carter County’s recycling program, I recommend a multitiered approach to improving our current recycling program. Necessary improvements can be made over a period of time to spread out costs, as follows:

Step 1. Let’s modernize our existing infastructure for recycling the products that residents are most familiar with and are most likely to be recycling already—items such as batteries, steel, paper, yard trimmings, and aluminum cans.

Step 2. I propose launching a marketing effort to explain the importance of recyling items for which there is less awareness, such as car tires and consumer electronics.

Step 3. We can then develop infastructure to promote and facilitiate recycling the materials we most often lose to the landfill, such as glass and plastic. The technology for recycling PET and HDPE plastics has come a long way since we opened our current facilities, so it is imperative that the city makes new investments in our existing infastructure.



What is the purpose of the graph in this document?

to present data about the recyclable items referenced
to indicate which commonly discarded items are recyclable
to illustrate the improvement in recycling rates over time
to show why some items are difficult to recycle

Answer 1

to indicate which commonly discarded items are recyclable

The text lists specific items (batteries, paper, tires, electronics, glass, plastics) and the graph's likely function is to show which of those commonly discarded items can be recycled, supporting the proposed steps.