A clothing manufacturer reports that unsalable garments, those found to be defective by inspectors plus those returned by retailers, total 7 percent of the garments produced. Further, it reports that all of its unsalable garments are recycled as scrap, but the percentage of garments reported as recycled scrap is 9 percent.
Which one of the following, if true, could contribute most to explaining the discrepancy between the reported percentages?
(A) Garments with minor blemishes are sent to wholesale outlets for sale at discounted prices and are not returned for recycling. - WRONG. Gap still remains
(B) The percentage of garments returned by retail outlets as unsalable includes, in addition to detective merchandise, garments in unacceptable styles or colors. - WRONG. Irrelevant.
(C) Some inspectors, in order to appear more efficient, tend to overreport defects. - WRONG. Tries but on the other part of the percentages.
(D) The total number of garments produced by the manufacturer has increased slightly over the past year. - WRONG. Complex further the percentages.
(E) Unsalable garments are recorded by count, but recycled garments are recorded by weight.
Only E gives a reason for such discrepancy in percentages. Per unit weight might be more.
Answer E.