The graph below shows waste recycling rates in the U.S. from 1960 to 2011.
Sample Response
The line chart showsoutlines how much waste was recovered and recycled in the US between 1960 and 2011. Total waste recoveryThe garbage recovery is presented in million tons while the recycling rate is presented as a percentagethe recycling is presented in percentages.
Generally speaking, both waste recovery and recycling in the US after 1985 increased remarkably despite the fact that a large proportion of wastea big proportion of litter remained unrecycled.
As the data suggests, 5.6 million tons of rubbish werewas recovered in the USA in 1960 and just 6.4% was recycled thatthis year. The recycling rate in 1965Recycling in 1965 slightly declined but increased in 1970 when 6.6% of waste was recycled6.6% of waste recycling took place out of 8 million tonsout of 8 tons. In 1980, more than 14 million tons of waste was recoveredgarbage were collected and almost 10% was recycled. The recycling rate rosefurther developed by 0.5 percentage points over the next five yearsby almost 2% after 5 years. After a decade, 16% of total waste was recycled and this ratio after that increased steadily and sharply and so did the waste recovery.
Almost nearly one-third of recovered wasteone-third of the surplus was recycled in 2005 when waste recovery was nearly 80 million tons, about 5.5 times as highabout 8 times higher than that of 25 years earlier. A thorough observation indicates that a great percentage of scrap in the US is not recycled during this time. For instance, out of 80 million tons, only about 32% of waste recycling figure in the US shows that another 50 million tons were not recycled. Finally, in 2011, more than one-third of rubbish was recycled which accounted for around 30 million tons of waste recoveredproduced in the USA while the remaining 60 million tons were not recycled.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The report has a clear overview and a sensible chronological structure, and several early figures are reported accurately. Its main limitation is the interpretation of the later data: recovery tonnage is treated as total waste, leading to unsupported unrecycled amounts, while some years and changes are also misreported. Prioritise distinguishing the two plotted measures and avoid calculating quantities the graph does not directly support.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The overview identifies the broad upward trends and early data are partly accurate, but later values are repeatedly misread and unsupported waste totals are calculated.
Treat recovery tonnage and recycling percentage as separate series, report their labelled values, and remove inferred unrecycled quantities.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response uses a logical introduction, overview, and chronological detail structure, though progression becomes confusing when later calculations are introduced.
Organise the details around key periods of change and give one clear comparison for each series without digressive calculations.
Lexical Resource
There is adequate range for describing trends and waste, but several collocations and measurement phrases are awkward or imprecise.
Use consistent terms such as ‘waste recovered’, ‘million tonnes’, and ‘recycling rate’ throughout the report.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of sentence forms is attempted and most meaning is recoverable, but agreement, reference, and clause-construction errors recur.
Simplify long sentences and ensure every percentage or quantity has a clear subject, unit, and grammatical relationship to the chart data.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The graph below shows waste recycling rates in the U.S. from 1960 to 2011.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.