Environment · Two-part direct question · Band 7
Who Should Reduce Household Waste?
The question, a model answer written to the band 7 descriptors, why it scores that band against the 4 official criteria, topic vocabulary, and a common mistake to avoid.
Two-part direct question
Who should be more responsible for reducing household waste, individuals or the companies that produce and package products, and what can realistically be done to encourage this? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
Model answer (band 7)
Written to the band 7 descriptors, not by a real examiner. Read it for structure and language, then write your own in your own words. Examiners can tell a memorised essay from an original one.
Reducing household waste is often framed as a matter of personal responsibility, but I believe companies bear the greater share of responsibility, since they design the packaging that ultimately becomes waste, and the most effective solutions target that design stage directly.
Individuals undoubtedly make choices that affect how much waste they generate, from how carefully they sort recycling to whether they buy in bulk or choose excessively packaged convenience products. However, individual responsibility has clear limits: a shopper cannot choose a product that uses less packaging if every version on the shelf is wrapped in the same non-recyclable plastic, and most consumers have neither the time nor the technical knowledge to evaluate packaging materials when making everyday purchases. Companies, by contrast, make deliberate design decisions about packaging at scale, decisions driven primarily by cost and shelf appeal rather than environmental impact, which places the structural cause of the problem squarely on their side of the equation.
As for realistic measures, extended producer responsibility schemes, where manufacturers must pay for the eventual disposal or recycling of their own packaging, have proven effective in several European countries by giving companies a direct financial incentive to redesign packaging rather than simply externalising the cost to local waste systems. Clearer, standardised labelling on recyclability would also help, since much household waste is currently sorted incorrectly simply because consumers cannot tell what a given material actually is.
In conclusion, while individuals should certainly act responsibly, companies control the packaging decisions that create most household waste, and extended producer responsibility schemes offer the most realistic path to genuine reduction.
Why this answer scores band 7
Mapped to the 4 official IELTS Writing criteria.
- Task Response: answers both the responsibility question and the 'what can be done' question with specific, well-reasoned detail rather than generic statements.
- Coherence and Cohesion: a clear structural argument (individual limits, then company responsibility, then a concrete policy solution) with strong internal logic.
- Lexical Resource: precise terms ('extended producer responsibility', 'externalising the cost', 'shelf appeal') show genuine command of environmental policy vocabulary.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: long, well-controlled sentences with embedded clauses maintain accuracy despite their complexity.
Useful vocabulary & collocations
Phrases used in the model answer that lift Lexical Resource naturally.
Common mistake on this type of question
Write your own answer and get it scored
IELTS9's AI examiner scores your own essay against the same 4 criteria shown above, Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy, with corrections and an improved version.
Score my essay →