filabot Archives - Perfect 3D Printing Filament

Climate Disrupted: A Circular Economy

In trying to prevent the total collapse of our natural ecosystem, we can work toward building a circular ecosystem of goods production and consumption. The goal of a circular economy is to produce no waste and have no negative impact on our ecosystem.

At the moment, we have very minor hints at a circular economy in the additive manufacturing (AM) space in the form of recycled feedstock and feedstock recyclers.

Recycled Feedstock

On the market, it is already possible to purchase 3D printing filament from a number of brands, including Innofil3D (now a BASF company), 3D Fuel and others. These companies manufacture filaments made from waste products. While ABS is recycled from car parts, PET is recycled from plastic bottles and HIPS can be scavenged from old refrigerators.

3D Fuel’s Buzzed filament made from waste generated during beer making. Image courtesy of 3D Fuel.

3D Fuel is one of the more notable companies in the space due to the wide range of waste-based plastic it manufactures. This includes waste byproducts from the beer, cotton and coffee industries, as well as biochar derived from the pyrolysis of landfill waste. All of these materials are then combined with NatureWorks PLA to give second lives to what would otherwise rot in giant piles somewhere.

Because many desktop 3D printing filaments are meant for low-cost machines, it might be safe to say that this helps offset the waste produced for prototyping and visual modeling. In general, 3D printing is still used for these applications, even as a shift toward production is taking place. As the technology is deployed for end part manufacturing, however, it is important to understand the reusability of materials in production systems.

HP, for instance, offers several materials that are 70 to 80 percent reusable. In powder bed fusion technologies, not all unprinted powder from a build can be reused due to exposure to the sintering/fusing source. In the case of HP’s materials, that amount is limited to just 20 to 30 percent.

Feedstock Recyclers

The aforementioned materials are obviously a small fraction of the possibilities for manufacturing with recycled feedstocks. A step further is the use of material recyclers that can be used to shred used plastic and remelt it into new, usable filament. Those with access to extrusion 3D printers can build recyclers like Michigan Tech’s RecycleBot at home or purchase a system like the Filabot or Felfil Evo.

A Gigabot X 3D printer modified with a 3D-printed hopper. Image courtesy of Michigan Tech.

There are good arguments to be had about whether or not such a system could even exist in industrialized society because of the destructive nature of recycling. Waste that is recycled can only be put through such a process a given number of times before its quality is too low for continued re-use. According to research from the Michigan Technical University Open Sustainability Technology (MOST) group, recycled plastic filament can only last five recycling cycles before it becomes unusable.

However, the MOST group is trying to overcome these issues. The lab is working to improve the quality of recycled plastic feedstock by replacing a plastic filament extruder with a hopper for processing shredded plastic. The research demonstrated that recycled ABS, PET and PP had similar tensile strength to virgin plastic filaments. PLA, however, was 2.5 percent weaker.

Circular Economy

If we were able to maintain quality throughout recycling, we can imagine how 3D printing could become a manufacturing process of choice for a circular economy. In a form of what the MOST lab refers to as “industrial symbiosis,” waste byproducts from one production site could be used as the material feedstock for another.

While other manufacturing technologies might be deployed in such a scenario, 3D printing has the advantage of producing less material waste than subtractive technologies such as CNC machining. It also has the benefit of cost effectively fabricating objects on-demand, eliminating the need for warehousing extra goods made with mass manufacturing technologies like injection molding.

An eco-industrial park centered on a photovoltaic manufacturing plant. Image courtesy of Renewable Energy.

The MOST group detailed the possibilities of a symbiotic eco-industrial park used to manufacture solar panels in a study. The calculations suggested that raw material use could be cut by 30,000 tons annually and embodied energy use could be cut by 220,000 GJ annually.

For the journal sustainability, a team of UK researchers attempted to conceive of a way to incorporate a number of emerging technologies, including AM, into a circular economic model. Using the production of shoes as an example, the team illustrated the production of shoes in a circular economy in this way:

“The design of this pair of trainers allows new disruptive business models, such as offering trainers as a service through a subscription model. This model provides a personalized service if the trainers need to be repaired, maintained, or parts need to be replaced, as the main body detaches from the sole with a mechanical joint. In addition, trainers will be produced in local stores. The model also includes the use of other technologies such as the ability to scan your foot to produce every trainer to measure and an augmented reality application to virtually try the trainers on. These technologies will allow the custom production of trainers avoiding a surplus of unsold products and utilizing the minimal amount of material.”

This second example in particular (as opposed to the solar park envisioned by the MOST lab) suffers from a lack of imagination, in that it attempts to maintain our current global society as much as possible. Our current economic, social and technological order are what have generated all of the ecological crises we are facing in the first place.

If we are to maintain a society with any level of industrialization that we currently have, it may be necessary to avoid thinking in terms of individual “consumers” purchasing goods as they always have, albeit locally and with a subscription model, and begin thinking about what aspects of this industrial society are necessary and which are merely convenient.

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Take That, Quagga Mussels: Student Turns an Invasive Species into 3D Printer Filament

The quagga mussel is an invasive species that has caused a great deal of trouble in the Great Lakes. It’s an aggressive creature, native to eastern Europe, that kills other species, breeds quickly, and messes up ecosystems. But Davidson College sophomore Lorena James has found a use for quagga mussels – 3D printing them. When James was in high school, she came up with an idea in an entrepreneurship class – creating 3D printer filament out of the shell of the quagga mussel. Previously Spanish designer Carmen Brio also created a PLA filament from the shells of muscles and oysters from restaurants. In that case, the shells were ground down and the idea was to recycle restaurant waste and turn it into a higher impact filament. Laura James is doing this specifically with one kind of muscle local to her.

After pitching the idea to her class, James entered her Z Spools concept in the Cleveland Water Alliance Erie Hack competition and won. Now she has applied for a utility patent for the product, and is thinking about how to mass produce it.

Lorena James

3D printer filament has been made out of all sorts of bizarre materials, from the byproducts of beer brewing to another problematic species, algae. Creating filament from quagga mussels won’t solve the issue of the invasive species, but it’s an interesting concept, and an eco-friendly one.

“I do help relieve the issue of making the beach unsanitary and unpleasant for beach goers,” said James. “And bring attention to other issues. I’m also bring attention to invasive species issue, providing new method for sustainable 3D printing.”

Quagga mussel shells have the potential to produce attractive 3D prints, too – they may be a menace to the Great Lakes, but filament made from their shells is unique, producing a pale gray color.

To make the filament, James crushes up the quagga mussel shells and mixes them with PLA pellets, which she then extrudes using a filament extruder she purchased from Filabot. She plans to reach out to Filabot to see if they will mass produce her filament once she returns from Shanghai, where she is currently studying abroad. After that, James may pursue ideas that involve the use of other invasive species; she’s very interested in the idea of a circular economy. Her first idea, before she came up with the Z-Spools concept, was to sell hydrilla verticillata, an invasive water plant, as food. She scrapped that idea, however, after realizing how much pollution the plants absorb from the lake.

James’ passionate pursuit of her idea came from disappointment – her entrepreneurship class had no interest in her idea, preferring instead “startups involving pillows, cruises and ice cream, none of which solved any problems I viewed worth pursuing,” she said. She admits she was somewhat bitter, but she took that bitterness and channeled it into bigger things, like taking her idea to Erie Hack. That competition ended up being a catalyst for her business pursuits.

“Without Erie Hack, there’s no way I would have wanted to pursue entrepreneurship as early as I did,” she said.

James is only 19, but she has a strong vision and passion for helping the environment and making the world a better place. Her Z-Spools idea is an ingenious one – rather than simply getting quagga mussels off the beach, she is creating something useful with them. If she continues pursuing her ideas about turning invasive species into useful products, she could end up with a successful business, catering to the many people who feel the same way that she does about the environment.

“When I came to Cleveland for Erie Hack, I thought people in Cleveland appreciated Lake Erie more and found more uses, than people in Buffalo,” she said. “But it’s changing. People are appreciating lake more. When I return from Davidson I’ll be spending a lot more time on the lake. I think Z Spools has definitely brought me closer to the lake.”

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[Source: Cleveland.com/Images courtesy of Lorena James]

Comparing 3D Printed Parts Made with Virgin and Recycled PLA

While 3D printing continues to grow in leaps and bounds, it still creates a lot of waste, due to removed support structures, disposable prototypes, failed prints, and multiple iterations. Luckily, PLA is biodegradable, and the waste can be easily managed in multiple ways, such as combustion, composting, and dumping it in landfills. However, the best method is recycling: in terms of its environmental impact, it’s 16 times better than combustion and 50 times better than composting, and its carbon footprint is 3,000 times less than that of some plastics based in petroleum, like ABS.

Over the years, many 3D printing companies have started to offer 3D printing filament that’s made from recycled consumer waste, and even recycled filament itself. There are also filament extruders available for people who want to recycle their used material at home. Researchers Isabelle Anderson recently published a paper, titled “Mechanical Properties of Specimens 3D Printed with Virgin and Recycled Polylactic Acid,” about her work evaluating the various properties of 3D printed test specimens made with virgin PLA filament, and comparing them to specimens fabricated with PLA filament made from recycling the original 3D printed specimens.

Testing tensile specimens on the Instron 3369.

The abstract reads, “With the 26% annual growth rate of additive manufacturing, especially in the area of 3D polymer printing, the amount of waste is increasing at a rapid rate. Limited research in the area of recycling has been produced, yet there are several recycling machines being developed for home use. Despite this work there is no published mechanical data on components produced with filament recycled from 3D printed parts. There is very limited data on mechanical properties of any 3D printed materials. This article compares the properties of parts 3D printed with virgin polylactic acid (PLA) to those printed with recycled PLA. Using commercially available PLA and an entry level 3D printer, tensile and shear specimens were produced and then tested for tensile yield strength, modulus of elasticity, shear yield strength, and hardness. The specimens were then ground up and re-extruded into filament, and a second set of specimens were produced and tested using this recycled PLA filament. Mechanical testing showed that 3D printing with recycled PLA is a viable option. With the recycled filament, tensile strength decreased 10.9%, shear strength increased 6.8%, and hardness decreased 2.4%. The tensile modulus of elasticity was statistically unchanged. Although the average mechanical properties before and after recycling were similar, there was more variability in the results of the recycled filament. Additionally, when printing with the recycled filament there was some nozzle clogging, while none occurred with the virgin filament. Overall, the mechanical properties of specimens 3D printed from recycled PLA filament were similar to virgin properties, encouraging further development in the area of recycling 3D printed filament.”

Distributive recycling at businesses and homes, when compared to centralized recycling, can reduce greenhouse gases, and could potentially save more than 100 million MJ of energy each year. However, there isn’t a lot of data about the mechanical properties of virgin 3D printed plastics, and even less about recycled 3D printed plastics.

Anderson chose to evaluate PLA in her study because it’s fairly easy to recycle into filament, and 3D printed all of the specimens on a Flashforge Creator.

“Initial test specimens were produced using virgin PLA filament with a nominal diameter of 1.75 mm. Tensile specimens were fabricated according to American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) standard D638-14 Type IV,” Anderson wrote in the paper. “The shear specimens were fabricated as square plates with dimensions of 51.2 × 51.2 × 3.9 mm.”

ASTM D638-14 type IV tensile test specimen.

Tensile and shear testing were both conducted on an Instron 3369 Testing Machine, while a handheld Shore D digital durometer was used to test hardness four times from the middle of the shear specimens. After the specimens made with virgin PLA filament were tested, Anderson sent them to Filabot, where they were then ground and re-extruded into 1.75 mm 3D printing filament.

“When the re-extruded filament was received the second set of tensile and shear specimens were produced using the same equipment, software, and method as used on the first set. These specimens were then tested with the same equipment and methods described above,” Anderson wrote.

The results showed that the properties of the specimens 3D printed with virgin PLA were similar to those of the recycled filament, which is “encouraging for the advancement of recycling technology in the area of 3D printing.”

“Although there were some minor difficulties working with the recycled filament, it produced specimens with very usable properties,” Anderson wrote in the paper. “These data are some of the first with large sample sizes, of 25–32, showing tensile, shear, and hardness values for 3D printed PLA, in both a virgin and a recycled format. This verifies that, using an entry level 3D printer, components can be produced with filament recycled from previously 3D printed parts with consistent mechanical properties that are only slightly less than the original parts.”

ASTM shear testing fixture D732-10.

The two types of specimens even looked similar, displaying consistent surface finish and diameter. However, there were some differences between the recycled and virgin PLA, including the fact that the average mechanical properties of the 3D printed recycled specimens were 2-11% lower than those of the prints made with virgin PLA. Additionally, the average shear strength of the recycled material was 6.8% higher than that of the virgin PLA. But there are several possible reasons for these discrepancies, such as a different Poisson’s ratio.

“This project produces valuable baseline data on 3D printed PLA and validates the recycling process with similar data using recycled PLA,” Anderson concluded. “The data produced demonstrates that recycling 3D printed scrap materials into usable filament can yield parts with similar properties to parts produced with virgin filament. This creates the potential to save significant amounts of raw materials, cost, energy, and CO₂ emissions in the production of 3D printed components.”

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Global Environment Concerns Support R&D for Plastic Recycling in 3D Printing

A recent series of major developments and events has created a new impetus for 3D printing plastic recycling. 3D printing of recycled plastics has multiple benefits, including lower costs and control over the amount of materials that can be used by 3D printers. Currently, 3D printing filament is produced by melting down virgin plastic pellets and extruding the melted plastic through a circular die which is then rolled up into spools. Printing with pellets or recycled materials is more cost effective and energy efficient than printing with new plastic filaments. In addition, direct printing of plastic pellets eliminates the need for further processing and therefore makes them less expensive.

Plastic has always been one of the leading 3D printer material categories. Now there is an expanding global concern about the amount of plastic product waste and in particular its negative impact on oceans and waterways. Improved pellet 3D printing recycling technology can play an important part in helping solve this environmental problem. 3D printing product developers, engineers, designers and environmentalists working on pellet recycling projects have the opportunity to earn US R&D tax credits.

The Research & Development Tax Credit

Enacted in 1981, the now permanent Federal Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit allows a credit that typically ranges from 4%-7% of eligible spending for new and improved products and processes. Qualified research must meet the following four criteria:

Must be technological in nature
Must be a component of the taxpayer’s business
Must represent R&D in the experimental sense and generally includes all such costs related to the development or improvement of a product or process
Must eliminate uncertainty through a process of experimentation that considers one or more alternatives

Eligible costs include US employee wages, cost of supplies consumed in the R&D process, cost of pre-production testing, US contract research expenses, and certain costs associated with developing a patent.

On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed the PATH Act, making the R&D Tax Credit permanent. Beginning in 2016, the R&D credit can be used to offset Alternative Minimum tax for companies with revenue below $50 million and for the first time, pre-profitable and pre-revenue startup businesses can obtain up to $250,000 per year in payroll taxes and cash rebates.

The Growing Scale of the Problem

The March 2018 issue of the Economist contained three articles devoted to the plastic waste environmental issues. Since the 1950s, humans have created 8.3 billion tons of plastic. According to the Economist since the 1950s, 7 to 9% has been recycled. In 2015, it is estimated that humans have generated 8.3 billion tons of plastic, 6.3 billion tons of which has already become waste. If the trends continue, then 12 billion tons of plastic waste will be in landfills.

Global production of plastics has increased from 2 million metric tons in the 1950s to over 400 million metric tons in 2015, most of which are man-made materials. Plus, half of all the plastics that are used become waste after four years. The plastic production in the US doesn’t show signs of slowing.

A team of researchers led a study in 2015 that calculated the amount of plastic waste that drains into the oceans. The results showed that 8 million metric tons of plastic lay in the oceans in 2010. Indonesia is the world’s second biggest plastics polluter. They have pledged to decrease plastic waste in the ocean by 75% by 2025, however some observers doubt that legal rules will be able to enforce and achieve such goals. Last year the government called for a “garbage emergency” where cleaners and trucks were deployed to collect rubbish off the shoreline.

The repercussion of plastic fragments in marine waters is alarming. For the most part, this pollution is not in the form of large, visible containers, but rather small particles. Two main types of small particle plastic pollutants are common in the environment: microfibers and microbeads. Most plastic is not a biodegradable material and when it is exposed to the sun’s UV radiation, it will break down into microfibers. Aside from degradation, these microfibers are produced at industrial quantities as polyester fabrics that are used to create durable and stretchy fabrics. Microfibers enter the water stream when polyester fabrics are washed, and only a fraction is caught by waste treatment facilities. It is estimated that a washing machine could release more than 700,000 microfibers into the environment. Microbeads are less than 5 millimeters long and are added as exfoliants to health and beauty products. Others come from plastic pieces that are degraded over time. In recent years, countries have taken initiatives to ban the sale of products containing microbeads, but this is only a fraction of the plastic waste entering the water stream.

Here are some recent developments involving plastic waste:

Coca-Cola’s announcement that they are committed to 100% recycling by the year 2030
China’s new law prohibiting the importation of plastic waste
Major NGO efforts to address the problem including the MacArthur Foundation
Study finds plastic water bottles contain micro plastics
Improvements in 3D printer recycling technology

The Coca-Cola Announcement

In its January 19th “World Without Waste” announcement, Coca-Cola pledged to recycle 100% of packaging by 2030. Coca-Cola has been a long-time thought leader on environmental issues and previously led efforts for major reductions in water consumption. The company is embracing a multi-faceted approach including material reduction, reuse and recycling. Coca-Cola produces an estimated 110 billion plastic bottles a year, of which the majority around the world ends up in landfills, beaches, and in the ocean.

The Coca-Cola Company announced in January of this year that by 2030, for every bottle they sell they will recycle the equivalent number of bottles. If the plastic waste problem is not solved, Coca-Cola’s CEO said that if Coke can manage to recycle the equivalent of 100% of its packaging, then “there’s no such thing as a single-use bottle.” If plastic is not solved, then the oceans and waterways will suffer. If Coca-Cola is successful in this endeavor, presumably beverage companies and packaged goods companies will follow their lead.

China: No More Western Garbage

As of January 1, 2018, China has banned the importation of 24 categories of waste including plastic waste. China’s government is enacting a plastic waste import ban which is in an attempt to cut down millions of tons of plastic and other recyclables each year. China doesn’t want to be the “world’s garbage dump” as they recycle about half of the globe’s plastics and paper products. Therefore, they are figuring out ways to reduce the waste.

The ban includes plastics, slag from steel making, unsorted scrap paper and discarded textiles. According to China’s WTO, the list has been adjusted to protect both the environment and people’s health. China has been importing loads of waste used as raw materials in industrial production. Last year, China imported 7.3 million tons of plastic waste, nearly half of all world plastic imports. The volume of some waste categories are so great that the new import ban is causing a reverse supply chain waste back up. The best way for the Western waste producers to tackle the problem is to reduce the amount of underlying waste created at the source. Domestically, one compelling use case is to convert plastic waste to 3D printer pellets for the creation of new products.

According to a recent study, China is the country that mismanages the most amount of plastic waste.

NGO Efforts to Address Plastic Waste

In 2016, 90 NGOs joined together to fight plastic waste. It is important for the NGOs fighting plastic waste to learn more about 3D pellet printing technological developments. Three of the major NGOs with plastic waste initiatives are described below:

Ellen MacArthur Foundation

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation provides a vision for the global economy. The MacArthur Foundation is using the principles of the circular economy to bring together the stakeholders to rethink and redesign the future of plastics by starting with packaging. The circular environment will prevent waste and make sure that products will be recycled. Most plastic packaging is used once, which is 95% of the value of plastic packaging material and worth between $80-120 billion per annum. Given projected growth in consumption, by 2050, the oceans are expected to contain more plastic than fish and the entire plastics industry will consume 20% of total oil production and about 15% of the annual carbon budget.

The UN is looking to solve the micro plastic dilemma and reduce marine litter. The UN has drafted goals to decrease plastic waste and marine plastic pollution by 2025. The draft outlines these three key points:

The importance of long-term elimination of litter in oceans and of avoiding detriment to marine ecosystems
Urge other organizations to get involved and join the movement against marine pollution
Encourage all Member States to prioritize policies to avoid marine litter and microplastics from entering into the marine environment

The life in the seas is a “planetary risk” and the UN hopes to send a powerful message that changes the way the world consumes, produces, and tackles pollution. For instance, in Kenya, there is a turtle hospital which treats animals that have ingested plastic waste. In Tanzania, there is plastic waste that litters the coast. Plastic rings and rims of plastic bottle caps have bite marks on them demonstrating that fish have nibbled on them thinking it was potential food. Local townspeople try to clean the filth up, however it is difficult to keep the beaches clean with the amount of waste that washes up on the shore. Some environmentalists feel it is too large a problem to be able to solve by 2025.

Greenpeace

Greenpeace is an NGO with offices around the world including the US, Amsterdam and Scotland. Greenpeace has been observing the coastlines of Scotland to find plastic waste in the environment. Plastic is harmful for marine life including fish, seabirds, and other animals. Plastic has been found at shark feeding grounds, and in Scotland, it is now being discovered in the beaks of seabirds. The NGO is working with the country’s environment secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, to introduce a deposit return scheme for drink containers in Scotland.

Micro plastics

A study conducted by scientists at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Fredonia found that 93% of 259 water bottles contain micro plastic. Bottles of Aqua, Aquafina, Bisteri, Dasani, Epura, Evian, Nestle Pure Life, San Pellegrino and Wahaha water from India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico and the US were sampled, and the researchers identified 325 particles of micro plastic per liter of water. In one study, it was discovered that in one bottle of Nestle Pure Life, the concentrations reached about 10,000 plastic pieces per liter of water. Out of the 259 bottles that were tested, only 17 were plastic free. This is a growing concern among health specialists and more analyses need to be done to prove how detrimental this is for one’s health. A truckload of plastic enters the ocean every minute. Plastics are building up in marine animals which means that humans are also exposed. The micro plastics that are found in the oceans and the toxic chemicals in plastics are creating threats to the environment and its inhabitants. It is essential for individuals to be vigilant about recycling and start using 3D printers which recycle plastic waste.

3D Printer Recycling Plastic Technology

3D printing with pellets provides an alternative way to develop objects instead of reverting to plastic filaments. Due to the lower cost, individuals are able to print with higher-quality materials for the same price as a filament counterpart. However, small, low-cost machines are available that allow for local production of 3D printing filament from pellets or recycling at a reasonable cost.

Engineering students at the University of British Columbia in Canada created the Protocycler which takes plastic water bottles and recycles them back to usable form. In addition, the Filabot is another filament extruder that has been on the market since 2013. These extruders grind the pieces, melt them down, and extrude the plastic filament on a spool. This provides an opportunity for individuals to easily recycle their plastic waste. Instead of throwing out your food container, you can put your plastic waste in the extruder and then make your own plastic spool that you can later print with again. Printing from recycled materials with Protocycler or the Filabot provide an estimated 90% cost savings on every spool that is printed.

The fully automatic operation, combined with real-time diameter feedback, means that anyone can get perfect filament every time they use the device. Small-scale extrusion also disposes of any extra waste that is usually the byproduct from printing. The extruder “closes the loop”, by taking the failed prints and allowing them to be used again to 3D print objects.

Protoprint is a company in India that uses 3D printing as a way to rid their waste and separate recyclables. There are filament sites at garbage dumps and they have developed and trained a network of waste pickers to sort and process the plastic. Once the waste is sorted, they are brought to the shed where they pass through a sorting and grinding machine which converts the plastic into pellets or flakes. The flakes are then passed through the refill-bot which uses a mechanism to create the recycled filament, which is spun on a spool to be used for later use. Protoprint has discovered that this low-cost technology is able to produce a plastic filament which then can be used in 3D printing.

Conclusion

The global community is focusing on problems related to plastic waste both on land and in our oceans. Plastics are the most common type of trash found in the sea. This is a perfect time for filament producers and product designers to offer their recycling solutions. The large volumes of this excess material make it particularly important to develop large footprint plastic products such as car parts, carpets, fencing, and infrastructure products using recycled waste. R&D Tax Credits are available for product designers and engineers who engage in this important effort.

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Charles Goulding & Steve Kelly of R&D Tax Savers discuss plastic recycling.