definitions for paper 1
Publicly Held Company: A business that has sold shares to the general public, typically through a stock exchange. Shareholders own a portion of the business and are entitled to dividends.
E-Waste Processing Factory: A facility designed to handle and process discarded electronic products (e-waste), extracting valuable materials like precious metals for resale. ABC opened its first e-waste processing factory in 2024, processing 100 tonnes of circuit boards weekly and recovering hundreds of kilograms of gold annually.
Jewellery Makers: Businesses that design and produce jewellery using precious metals such as gold and silver. ABC sells the gold recovered from circuit boards directly to jewellery makers.
Efficiencies: Improvements in resource utilization (labour, machinery, materials) to produce goods or services at lower costs or in less time without reducing quality. ABC is considering increasing efficiencies in its concrete production as a strategic priority.
Environment: The natural world (air, water, land, ecosystems) affected by a business's operations. Reducing environmental impact is a key strategic consideration for ABC.
Market-Oriented: An approach where decisions about products and services are driven by customer needs identified through market research. Becoming more market-oriented is a strategic priority for ABC.
Growth: An increase in business size measured by revenue, profit, market share, or number of employees. Exploring growth options is a strategic priority for ABC.
Aggregates: Raw materials like sand, gravel, and clay mixed to produce construction materials like concrete. ABC purchases limestone and clay aggregates for concrete production.
Business-to-Business (B2B): A model where businesses sell products or services to other businesses rather than individuals, involving long-term contracts and larger order volumes. ABC sells recovered gold to jewellery makers.
Carbon-Intensive: Processes that release significant amounts of CO₂ and greenhouse gases. Traditional gold recovery from e-waste involved burning circuit boards, which is carbon-intensive.
Circuit Boards: Internal components found in electronic devices containing small amounts of precious metals and toxic materials. ABC has developed a process to recover these metals at room temperature.
Clay: A naturally occurring raw material used in cement and concrete production, part of the business's production costs. ABC purchases clay along with limestone for concrete manufacturing.
Concrete: A widely used construction material made from cement, water, and aggregates. ABC is the largest concrete producer in Country Z.
E-Waste: Discarded electronic products that often contain valuable materials and hazardous substances. Only 20% of the 50 million tonnes of e-waste globally each year is recycled, with 80% going to landfill.
Landfill: A site where waste materials are buried instead of recycled. 80% of global e-waste currently ends up in landfills.
Limestone: A key ingredient in producing cement and concrete, serving as ABC's primary input in concrete production.
Plastic Shredding Machinery: Industrial equipment for breaking down plastic waste for recycling. ABC is considering purchasing this machinery to reduce environmental impact.
Recycling: The process of collecting and reprocessing waste materials for reuse. ABC recycles e-waste to recover precious metals.
Solar Panels: Devices that convert sunlight into electricity, which ABC may explore producing to achieve growth.
Toxic Metals: Harmful substances that can damage health and the environment if not handled properly. ABC could explore recycling solar panels containing toxic metals.