Data Interpretation Set 01 Foundation level: Economy vs Environment
- IIMwalaBanda
- Aug 4
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 13
A policy think tank studied plastic usage across five sectors of the economy.
Sector | Plastic Used (Million Tonnes) | Recycled (%) | GDP Contribution (₹ Billion) |
Packaging | 18 | 30 | 420 |
Construction | 12 | 55 | 510 |
Automotive | 8 | 70 | 650 |
Healthcare | 5 | 20 | 780 |
Consumer Goods | 7 | 40 | 340 |
Additional Information
Plastic not recycled becomes waste.
The government proposes reducing Packaging plastic consumption by 20%.
GDP contribution of Packaging reduces in the same proportion.
Recycling percentages remain unchanged.
Only recycled plastic from Packaging and Consumer Goods can be reused to manufacture Packaging material.
Packaging requires at least 3 million tonnes of recycled plastic every year. If recycled plastic from Packaging and Consumer Goods is insufficient, the remaining requirement must be met using virgin plastic.
Q1. What is the total plastic waste generated across all sectors?
A. 27.8
B. 28.6
C. 29.4
D. 30.2
Q2. Which sector generates the highest plastic waste per ₹100 billion of GDP?
A. Packaging
B. Construction
C. Healthcare
D. Consumer Goods
Q3. After the proposed policy, by approximately what percentage does the total plastic waste reduce?
A. 5%
B. 8.8%
C. 10%
D. 12%
Q4. If recycling rates improve by 10 percentage points across every sector, by how many million tonnes does total waste reduce?
A. 4.2
B. 4.6
C. 5.0
D. 5.8
Q5. Which sector has the highest Sustainability Index?
Sustainability Index=GDP Contribution/Plastic Waste
A. Construction
B. Automotive
C. Healthcare
D. Consumer Goods
Q6. After the policy is implemented,
Packaging now consumes only 14.4 million tonnes of plastic.
Packaging requires 3 million tonnes of recycled plastic.
How much virgin plastic must still be used for Packaging?
A. 0
B. 0.6 million tonnes
C. 1.2 million tonnes
D. 2.4 million tonnes
Scroll down for answer key and check out the embedded video for detailed solution. Feel free to comment your views in case you have further doubts.
Solutions
Q1
Plastic Waste
Packaging = 18 × 70% = 12.6
Construction = 12 × 45% = 5.4
Automotive = 8 × 30% = 2.4
Healthcare = 5 × 80% = 4.0
Consumer = 7 × 60% = 4.2
Total
= 12.6 + 5.4 + 2.4 + 4 + 4.2
= 28.6
✅ Answer B
Q2
Waste per ₹100 billion
Packaging = 12.6/420 ×100 = 3
Construction = 1.06
Automotive = 0.37
Healthcare = 0.51
Consumer = 1.24
Highest = Packaging
✅ Answer A
Q3
Packaging falls by 20%.
New Packaging Consumption
18 → 14.4
Waste
14.4 ×70%
=10.08
Waste Reduction
12.6−10.08=2.52
Percentage Reduction
[\frac{2.52}{28.6}\times100=8.81%]
≈ 8.8%
✅ Answer B
Q4
10 percentage-point improvement means
Waste reduction = 10% of…