Technology, Society and the Environment
Technology, Society and the Environment tests how metalworking affects people, resources and the environment, and how design choices reduce harm.
Impacts
Metal production uses large amounts of energy and raw material; mining and smelting cause habitat loss and pollution. Workshop processes create swarf, fumes, waste oil and noise. Benefits include employment, tools, infrastructure and improved living standards.
Sustainable practice
Reduce, reuse, recycle. Separate steel and aluminium swarf; both are recyclable, and recycling aluminium saves most of the energy needed to smelt it from ore. Use efficient motors and lighting, maintain machines, avoid unnecessary cuts, and choose durable finishes. Select materials with recycled content and design for disassembly.
Appropriate technology
Choose solutions that local people can maintain and repair. In a Botswana workshop, imported steel may be necessary, but simple jigs, standard fasteners and locally available spare parts improve sustainability.
Worked example
Choose a material for an outdoor sign frame. Mild steel is cheap and strong but rusts, so it needs galvanising or painting. Aluminium is lighter and corrosion-resistant but costs more and needs different welding. For a rainy or coastal site, aluminium or galvanised steel lasts longer, even though the initial cost is higher. Reasoning: life-cycle cost and maintenance matter more than purchase price alone.
Traps
Calling a material environmentally friendly without criteria, ignoring the energy used to make a product, forgetting social impacts such as safety and employment, and assuming recycling is pollution-free all lose marks.