Despite legislation designed to stem the accumulation of plastic waste

The argument is simple:
1. Plastics industry has grown despite legislation against waste.
2. Example: sales of material for manufacturing plastics went up.
Note the discrepancy between the growth of the 'plastics industry' and the sales of 'raw material for manufacturing', which suggests that we're missing something that shows that the industry itself, and not just sales of the raw material, have grown. (e.g. what if resin is being used for something other than plastics?) Since we know what sort of answer to look for, we can just look for it without wasting time thinking about irrelevant options. This is a Precise approach.

Skimming over the answer choices, (A) is exactly what we expect and so is our answer.

The stem provides a bunch of facts. There is no argument. (to be clear).

The author of the stem seems to be confused by the turn of events: How can the plastics industry continue to grow last year (as indicated by the 10%+ growth in resin) even though legislation to stem the accumulation of waste?

There are a few overtly clear assumptions made by the author:
a. Author assumes that growth in resin should have a positive correlation in growth of the plastics industry without considering whether resin is used for other things. This assumption is a sufficient / active / deductive type of assumption.
b. We aren't given any indication of the timing of the regulation, but it could be the case that regulation was just implemented, so it may take a longer time to actually be enforced


A is correct because it states the assumption. Variance test this: If resin does have other uses then the correlation can be explained by demand onset by other uses of resin, if it has no other uses apart from the plastics industry then the confusion is justified clearly (Strengthened)
B. This isn't relevant. We know that resin has grown in demand by 10%
C. This is irrelevant to explaining the situation
D. how is the sales of all G+S relevant to the plastics industry?Delete
E. This isn't relevant to the situation. The fact of the matter is, we should have expected a decrease in demand for the plastics raw materials.

Understanding the passage

Despite legislation designed to stem the accumulation of plastic waste, the plastics industry continued to grow rapidly last year,
• There is legislation that is designed to slow the collection of plastic waste. Last year, however, the plastic industry continued to grow rapidly.
as can be seen from the fact that sales of the resin that is the raw material for manufacturing plastics grew by 10 percent to $28 billion.
• Resin is the raw material used for manufacturing plastics.
• The growth in the plastics industry can be seen from the fact that the sale of resin grew by 10% to $28 billion.

Conclusion: The plastics industry continued to grow rapidly because the sale of resin grew by 10% last year.

Pre-thinking


Falsification scenario -


In what scenario – did the plastics industry NOT continued to grow rapidly even though the sale of resin grew by 10% last year.

Given that:
(i) The sale of resin, the raw material used for manufacturing plastics, grew by 10% last year.

Falsification condition: What if the resins have other uses?
If resins are used for something other than manufacturing plastics, then growth in the sale of resins cannot be attributed to growth in the plastics industry. This scenario breaks the conclusion.

Assumption: Resins do not have other uses apart from being the raw material for manufacturing plastic.

Answer choice analysis


A. whether the resin has other uses besides the manufacture of plastics CORRECT
• This information is crucial for us since this is in line with our pre-thinking. The variance test is not required to prove this option is correct.

B. the dollar amount of resin sales the year before last INCORRECT
• This information is already provided in the passage. Therefore, this is not the correct choice.

C. the plastics industry's attitude toward the legislation concerning plastic waste INCORRECT
• This question is irrelevant because it asks us whether the information about last year's resin sales is enough evidence of the plastics industry growth. Therefore, this is not the correct choice.


D. whether sales of all goods and services in the economy as a whole were increasing last year INCORRECT
• Variance test
o Yes – the sales of all goods and services in the economy as a whole were increasing last year.
o The increase in the monetary value of resins and sales of resin does not necessarily reflect growth in the plastic industry.
o No - the sales of all goods and services in the economy as a whole were increasing last year.
o In this case, the increase in resin sales could be evidence of growth. This case is a possibility and not a certainty.
• Therefore, this option is not the correct choice.

E. what proportion of the plastics industry's output eventually contributes to the accumulation of plastic waste INCORRECT
• This option is irrelevant because the passage is about the increase in resin sales, which is the reason for the growth in the plastics industry.

Conclusion: the plastics industry continued to grow rapidly last year [based on sales of the resin (= raw material for manufacturing plastics grew by 10%)].

In assessing the support provided by the evidence cited above for the statement that the plastics industry continued to grow, in addition to the information above it would be most useful to know

A. whether the resin has other uses besides the manufacture of plastics
The conclusion is essentially saying because the raw material for plastics grew, the plastics industry grew in tandem. There’s a big logical leap here. What if there’s something that’s made with Resin?

B. the dollar amount of resin sales the year before last
Doesn’t matter – the argument says it grew by 10% and logic is still there. Raw material of plastics went up so plastic went up.

C. the plastics industry's attitude toward the legislation concerning plastic waste
We don’t care about their attitude, opinions, preferences, etc. Raw material of plastics went up so plastic went up. Given this, it still makes sense.

D. whether sales of all goods and services in the economy as a whole were increasing last year
Doesn’t matter - the argument says it grew by 10% and logic is still there. Raw material of plastics went up so plastic went up.

E. what proportion of the plastics industry's output eventually contributes to the accumulation of plastic waste
Doesn’t matter after the fact.

As you suggest, the fact that sales increased by $28 billion doesn't guarantee that the amount of resin sold increased. Maybe it just got more expensive?

Note, however, that (B) wouldn't help resolve this ambiguity. If the $28 billion in sales of resin represents a 10% increase over the previous year, this information already tells us what the dollar amount of resin sales was the year before last. So (B) doesn't add any new information.

It would be nice to know the actual quantities resin was sold, not just the dollar amount of sales. But unfortunately, neither the passage nor (B) directly tell us how much resin was sold.

For those reasons, (B) does not help us assess the argument, and it's incorrect.

I hope that helps!

Understanding the passage

Despite legislation designed to stem the accumulation of plastic waste, the plastics industry continued to grow rapidly last year,

• There is legislation that is designed to slow the collection of plastic waste. Last year, however, the plastic industry continued to grow rapidly.

as can be seen from the fact that sales of the resin that is the raw material for manufacturing plastics grew by 10 percent to $28 billion.

• Resin is the raw material used for manufacturing plastics.
• The growth in the plastics industry can be seen from the fact that the sale of resin grew by 10% to $28 billion.

Conclusion: The plastics industry continued to grow rapidly because the sale of resin grew by 10% last year.

Pre-thinking

Falsification scenario -

In what scenario – did the plastics industry not continued to grow rapidly even though the sale of resin grew by 10% last year.

Given that:

(i) The sale of resin, the raw material used for manufacturing plastics, grew by 10% last year.

Falsification condition: What if the resins have other uses?
If resins are used for something other than manufacturing plastics, then growth in the sale of resins cannot be attributed to growth in the plastics industry. This scenario breaks the conclusion.
Assumption: Resins do not have other uses apart from being the raw material for manufacturing plastic.

Answer choice analysis


A. whether the resin has other uses besides the manufacture of plastics CORRECT
• This information is crucial for us since this is in line with our pre-thinking. The variance test is not required to prove this option is correct.

B. the dollar amount of resin sales the year before last INCORRECT
• This information is already provided in the passage. Therefore, this is not the correct choice.

C. the plastics industry's attitude toward the legislation concerning plastic waste INCORRECT
• This question is irrelevant because it asks us whether the information about last year's resin sales is enough evidence of the plastics industry growth. Therefore, this is not the correct choice.


D. whether sales of all goods and services in the economy as a whole were increasing last year INCORRECT
• Variance test
o Yes – the sales of all goods and services in the economy as a whole were increasing last year.
o The increase in the monetary value of resins and sales of resin does not necessarily reflect growth in the plastic industry.
o No - the sales of all goods and services in the economy as a whole were increasing last year.
o In this case, the increase in resin sales could be evidence of growth. This case is a possibility and not a certainty.
• Therefore, this option is not the correct choice.

E. what proportion of the plastics industry's output eventually contributes to the accumulation of plastic waste INCORRECT
• This option is irrelevant because the passage is about the increase in resin sales, which is the reason for the growth in the plastics industry.

GMATNinja : I was stuck between A and E and chose the incorrect answer choice E. I fail to see why E is incorrect because if I apply Variance Test to E, it does matter whether the proportion of waste is more or less when compared to previous years. Please help!

As increase in sales of resin and growth of plastic industry is correlated we have to find a statement that is relevant ot evaluate these two points. Only option A will help to evaluate.

Why is the answer not B? The stem says the sales has gone up by 10% to USD 28 million. Is it because we are assuming that "sales" here refers to the quantity and not the revenue? Because if the revenue went up by 10%, there is a possibility that the unit price of resin increased and the quantity has remained the same? So knowing this detail would help us conclude if resin sales actually went up?