3D printing device which recycles plastic

Submitted by: The Two Sides Team October 24, 2013

A new small-scale plastic recycling machine could make 3D printing more environmentally and economically sustainable.

Tyler McNaney didn't get into 3D printing for the usual reasons. Rather than creating things out of seemingly nothing, he was motivated more by the idea of transforming existing items into something new.

To that end, McNaney designed the Filabot, a breadbox-sized machine that melts existing plastic waste into the filament used by 3D printers. In that way, today's water bottle can be recycled into the printing 'ink' that forms tomorrow's iPhone case.

In late 2011, the Vermont Technical College student launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter with the goal of raising $10,000. A month later, he closed at more than triple his goal. The funding allowed him to further develop his invention, which can now process a variety of thermoplastics, including nylon.

McNaney, a self-described altruist, plans to start selling the Filabot this year. He priced it at $350 during the campaign and hopes to keep it at that level so it can reach a wide range of users, particularly in the developing world.

People in developing countries have plastic all around them, he says. 'If they could use 3D printing as a means to make something as simple as a fork, that would be amazing.'

McNaney's creation looks to solve two of the biggest current issues with 3D printing. At around $40 per one-kilogram spool, the plastic filament used in many home devices is still too expensive for the mainstream. The Filabot can eliminate that cost and get rid of the waste produced by printing test objects, since those items can simply be recycled into more filament.

3D printers themselves have been around for more than 20 years, but they've also been expensive and therefore used strictly by industry. Rapidly improving technology and falling prices in recent years, however, have brought them within reach of small businesses and individuals, with desktop models now available for less than $1,000. And while plastic has generally been used for output, recent strides have been made in printing metal and even edible goods. The replicators seen on Star Trek, with which Captain Jean-Luc Picard could instantly order up a cup of tea, don't seem so fantastical anymore.

The worldwide market for 3D printing is thus expected to double to more than $6 billion by 2019. Not surprisingly, hype is at a fever pitch. Over the past year, the media has mused on everything from how the technology might be used to pull manufacturing back to North America to the creation of a moon base.

Lost amid all the noise, however, is the question of whether 3D printing is economic or environmentally sustainable in the first place. Like all technologies, it holds much promise, but is there any peril?

On the plus side, 3D printing could significantly lower carbon emissions. If it does indeed lead to manufacturing repatriation, the environmental savings on shipping goods across long distances will likely be huge. Additive manufacturing, where an object is created by adding material to it rather than by machining excess away as in traditional manufacturing, also produces much less waste by its very nature.

This article, written by Peter Nowack from Corporate Knights, appeared on the UTNE website.

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