How plastic bottles are recycled

What works: The overview exists and groups the process into stages. The body follows the diagram in order.

Problems:

1. The overview misses that the process is a cycle. This is the most important feature of the diagram, and you only mention it in the last sentence. Say it in the overview, and say how many stages there are.
   • ❌ "Overall, the procedure can be divided into 3 main stages, starting from gathering the trash…"
   • ✅ "Overall, the process is cyclical and consists of nine stages, which can be grouped into three phases…"
2. The pellet stage is described wrongly. The crushed pieces are not pellets yet. The machine turns them into pellets.
   • ❌ "Once the clean crushed plastic pellets have entered a machine, plastic pellets are formed."
   • ✅ "Next, the clean fragments are fed into a machine that produces plastic pellets."
   • Also, "heated and melted": the diagram only shows heating, so don't add "melted". Report what the diagram shows.
3. You give no examples of end products. The diagram shows bottles, food containers, T-shirts, bags and pencils. "Production of plastic items" is also inaccurate, because T-shirts and pencils aren't simply "plastic items". Give one or two examples. They show you selected the key details.
4. The sorting step is vague. The diagram shows bottles being sorted by hand on a conveyor belt into accepted (✓) and rejected (✗) items. "they are sorted and plastic waste is collected" doesn't show that.

What works: The order of the stages is clear and logical, and you use varied sequencing words (Firstly, after which, At this point, Once, This is followed by). Splitting the body into "collection and preparation" and "manufacturing" works well.

Fixes:

• The overview says 3 stages, but the body has 2 paragraphs. Either drop the number or make the paragraphs match the grouping.
• Referencing: "gathering the trash, turning them into…". "Trash" is uncountable, so use it.
• "thereby, restarting the process." This is a sentence fragment. → "…and the cycle begins again."

What works: You vary trash / garbage / waste, and use compressed and loaded into correctly.

Spelling errors (examiners notice these):

Also: "3 main stages" → "three main stages" (write numbers under ten as words in formal writing). "producing brand new materials" → "manufacturing new products".

What works: You use the passive voice throughout, which is right for a process. You also use some good complex forms: "after being compressed into blocks", "Once… have entered", "after which".

Errors that come up more than once:

1. Subject–verb agreement with uncountable nouns. "Garbage" and "waste" take singular verbs:
   • ❌ "The collected garbage… are loaded" → ✅ "…is loaded"
   • ❌ "the plastic waste are crushed" → ✅ "…is crushed"
2. Capital letters: "Firstly, The" → "the". "after being compressed" → "After" (start of a sentence). "thereby" starts a new sentence, so it needs a capital, but it's a fragment anyway (see above).
3. Articles: "for production of" → "for the production of".

1. Overview: always say whether the process is a cycle or a straight line, and how many stages it has.
2. Accuracy: describe only what the diagram shows. Don't call the crushed pieces "pellets" before the pellet stage, and don't add "melted". Name the end products.
3. Proofread for 2 minutes at the end: check spelling (process, pellets, form), capitals at the start of sentences, and singular verbs with waste / garbage / trash.