Shredding – Re-Print Vancouver

September 28, 2020September 29, 2020

Interest in Recycling Filament

Looking through the comment sections of YouTube videos about filament recycling, it is evident that people are thinking about recycling their 3D printing scraps. They, such as myself, would rather store them for an undetermined amount of time and an unforeseeable date when they can be recycled, or at least NOT thrown in the garbage, despite not knowing anyone who is doing it locally or affordably. Here are some examples of things people are commenting on Make Anything’s Making my OWN Filament from Failed Prints with the 3Devo Composer video:

September 22, 2020December 10, 2020

Current Plastic Recycling Systems for 3D Printing

Currently, there is a very limited number of public initiatives to take post-consumer plastics (PCP) from scrap to reusable filament. Although there is a list of plastic shredders and filament recycling machines available on the market, they are typically extremely expensive and time-consuming, making them unattainable for individual use, forcing people that want to pursue it to make DIY and hacked versions that often produce sub-par results.

September 19, 2020October 7, 2020

The Shredding and Extruding Process

Post-consumer plastics (PCP) need to go through various steps before they are able to be used again as recycled material. The image below shows a condensed version of the process beginning after the collection of scrap/waste PLA.

September 18, 2020October 21, 2020

PLA Recycling: Mechanical vs. Chemical vs. Compost

After PLA is 3D printed, it can be recycled and used to 3D print again, providing it has not been combined with another substance like super glue or non-water based paint. There are three methods of recycling PLA: mechanical recycling, chemical recycling, and composting. In order to quantify and compare these methods, two different systems are used to compare the three methods of PLA recycling; the restitution product system and the credit product system.