Which term refers to the stages a product goes through: raw material extraction, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal?

• A. Design for recycling
• B. Sustainability
• C. Product life cycle
• D. Ferrous metal

Answer: (C)

Think about the entire journey of a product from start to finish: the extraction of raw materials, the manufacturing process, getting the product to markets, how it is used, and what happens at the end of its life. This full sequence is called the product life cycle. It’s a framework used to study and plan the environmental, economic, and social impacts at each stage, helping designers and manufacturers make choices that reduce waste and conserve resources.

The other ideas describe different things: design for recycling is about making products easier to recycle, sustainability is a broad aim to meet present needs without harming future generations, and ferrous metal is simply a type of iron-containing material. So the term that best fits the described stages is the product life cycle.