IELTS Essay Bank · Task 2 Academic · Problem & solution
Single-Use Plastic Pollution: Band 7 Sample Essay
320 words · Topic: Environment ·
The question
Enormous quantities of single-use plastic, such as bottles and packaging, are discarded every day, polluting land and oceans around the world.
What are the causes of this problem, and what measures could reduce it?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
Band 7 sample essay
Highlighted = useful vocabularyEvery day, countless plastic bottles, bags and containers are thrown away after one use, and much of this waste ends up in rivers and the sea. This essay will examine the main causes of this problem and suggest measures to reduce it.
The most obvious cause is convenience. Plastic is cheap, light and hygienic, so manufacturers use it for almost everything, from drinks bottles to the wrapping around individual fruits. Consumers, for their part, have become used to a throwaway culture in which items are used for a few minutes and then discarded without a second thought. A second cause is poor waste management. In many developing countries there is no reliable rubbish collection, so plastic is burned or dumped in rivers, while even in wealthy nations only a small amount of plastic packaging are actually recycled.
There are several ways to tackle this issue. Firstly, governments can use financial measures to change behaviour. When the UK introduced a small charge for plastic shopping bags, the number of bags handed out by major supermarkets fell dramatically, showing that even a minor cost can change habits. Secondly, deposit-return schemes, such as the one in Germany, give customers money back when they return bottles, and this has made bottle recycling extremely common there.
Finally, manufacturers should be made responsible for the packaging they produce. If companies had to pay for the collection and recycling of their products' packaging, they would have a strong incentive to use less plastic or switch to biodegradable alternatives. Education campaigns can also encourage people to carry reusable bags, although this alone is unlikely to solve the problem.
In conclusion, plastic pollution is mainly caused by cheap, convenient packaging and inadequate waste systems. A mixture of charges, deposit schemes and producer responsibility would be the most effective solution, since it would make people and businesses to think twice before using plastic that is only needed for a moment.
Word count: 320
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Why this is Band 7: criterion by criterion
Task Response
Band 7Both parts of the question — causes and measures — are addressed, and the response makes clear which solutions the writer considers most effective. Main ideas are extended and supported with relevant, well-known examples: the UK plastic bag charge and German bottle deposits are used accurately and cautiously. The causes paragraph over-generalises somewhat ("In many developing countries there is no reliable rubbish collection"), and the point about education is only mentioned rather than developed. Relevant, extended ideas with some over-generalisation are characteristic of Band 7.
Coherence and Cohesion
Band 7The essay is logically organised, with one paragraph for causes, two for solutions and a conclusion that summarises both. Cohesive devices are used with some range ("for their part", "while", "A second cause"), and referencing is generally clear ("this waste", "the one in Germany"). However, the solutions are introduced with a rather mechanical Firstly, Secondly, Finally sequence, and the introduction's "This essay will examine…" is formulaic. A range of devices with some over-use is Band 7.
Lexical Resource
Band 7There is a sufficient range of vocabulary for flexibility and precision, including topic-specific items such as "throwaway culture", "deposit-return schemes", "biodegradable alternatives" and "producer responsibility", and the idiomatic "without a second thought". The writer shows awareness of collocation ("tackle this issue", "a strong incentive"). There is an occasional inaccuracy in word choice: "individual fruits" would be more natural as individual pieces of fruit. This is consistent with Band 7.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Band 7A variety of complex structures is used: a second conditional ("If companies had to pay…, they would have…"), passives ("should be made responsible"), relative clauses and a concessive "although" clause. Most sentences are error-free. There are two errors: an agreement slip in "only a small amount of plastic packaging are actually recycled" (is), and an incorrect verb pattern in "make people and businesses to think twice" (make people think). Good control with a few errors is the Band 7 descriptor.
Useful vocabulary and collocations
- hygienic
- clean and unlikely to spread disease; explains why plastic is used for food.
- throwaway culture
- a society's habit of using things briefly and then discarding them; strong phrase for environment essays.
- deposit-return schemes
- systems that refund a small payment when a container is returned for recycling.
- biodegradable alternatives
- materials that break down naturally; the precise term for plastic substitutes.
- producer responsibility
- the principle that manufacturers pay for dealing with the waste their products create.
How this essay could reach Band 8
- 1Develop every measure to the same depth: explain how education campaigns would change behaviour, or why they work better alongside charges, instead of mentioning them in one sentence.
- 2Replace the formulaic "This essay will examine…" and the Firstly/Secondly/Finally chain with openings that link directly to the causes ("Because cost drives the problem, the most direct response is…").
- 3Remove the two grammar slips ("a small amount … are", "make … to think"); at Band 8 the majority of sentences must be error-free.
This is an original sample essay written by IELTS-Bank to illustrate Band 7 against the public IELTS Writing band descriptors. The band scores are our assessment, not an official IELTS result. IELTS-Bank is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia, or Cambridge University Press & Assessment. "IELTS" is a registered trademark of its respective owners and is used here for descriptive purposes only.