Certain instruments used in veterinary surgery can be made either of stainless steel or of nylon. In a study of such instruments, 50 complete sterilizations of a set of nylon instruments required 3. 4 times the amount of energy used to manufacture that set of instruments, whereas 50 complete sterilizations of a set of stainless steel instruments required 2. 1 times the amount of energy required to manufacture that set of instruments.
More energy was required for each complete sterilization of the nylon instruments than was required to manufacture the nylon instruments could be true EXCEPT if the statements above are true.