3D print recycled plastic

Yuma Labs partners with companies, cities and events such as the Tomorrowland Music Festival to collect the plastic waste generated at the event. And the sale of sunglasses, then printed on a 3D printer from this garbage, covers the cost of collecting plastic. nine0003

Yuma Labs also organizes and participates in community events to raise awareness about recycling. For example, in 2019 they organized an event at the Stormkop playground in Antwerp where children had to pull plastic trash from a nearby river. The company then 3D-printed it into children's sunglasses.

As Yuma Labs says, it's not just the production of sunglasses or the recycling of plastic that matters. They hope to inspire others with their example for a broader transition to a circular economy. nine0003

Plastic Waste Urban Lightweight Vehicle

Utility Vehicle (ZUV) is an electric trike with a 3D printed frame made from recycled polypropylene plastic.

Developed by Austrian design firm EOOS and Dutch 3D printing company The New Raw, ZUV aims to do more than reduce plastic waste. Its creators hope it can become the new type of zero-emission vehicle for cities around the world. nine0003

According to the developer's plans, consumers can 3D print the ZUV's polypropylene frame using a 3D printing service such as Craft Cloud and then take it to a bike shop to have the motor, wheels, lights and handlebars installed.

The square ZUV has a rear wheel drive and a spacious trunk. It can be ridden by two adults. EOOS hopes to raise awareness of the environmental impact of urban transport and offer an alternative mode of transportation based on a circular economy. nineThe 0003

ZUV is currently only in the prototype stage and its blocky look may not be to everyone's liking. However, the concept is promising, and the car has every chance of becoming an ordinary city landmark.

Coffee station made from coffee waste

Photo: lofbergs-com.mynewsdesk.com

Swedish coffee group Löfbergs is partnering with 3D printing company Sculptur to turn coffee waste into new coffee stations. The collaboration is part of Circular Coffee Community's commitment and the group's goal of zero coffee waste by 2030. The world's first 3D printed waste-based coffee station is already up and running and others are underway. nine0003

The coffee stations are 3D printed from a by-product of the coffee roasting process and polypropylene. Further development will allow the use of polypropylene from recycled coffee big bags, making coffee stations almost 100% renewable.

“Our new coffee station is a prime example of a closed loop—recycling leftovers from our own primary raw material, coffee, to create an entirely new and associated sustainable product.” , says Lars Aen Tegersen, Director of Innovation and Circular Transformation at Löfbergs.

Cozy office space made from plastic bottles

Photo: instagram/@architechcompany interiors.

“The biggest surprise was how many types of waste we can use – soft plastics, organics, polypropylenes and polyethylenes – we kind of asked, why isn’t everyone doing this?” , said Utilize Project founder Matthew O'Hagan in an interview with Stuff magazine. - nine0023 "Why isn't this being done?" .

Material based on: all3dp.com

PET plastic recycling and how 3D printing can change the lives of each of us for a convenient reference, I will indicate the name of the topics in a LARGE FONT)

WHERE IT ALL STARTED:

How can 3D printing change not only the lives of those around you, but also yours? Stupid question, but for me it is rather ironic. nine0003

It all started many years ago, when I became interested in tank modeling, while playing one game known to everyone, I accidentally stumbled upon the news about paper modeling, they offered to make a simple MC1 tank out of paper, I immediately liked the idea, because I liked to do it from childhood something with your own hands.

I won't go into details, but I can say that with time the quality of the work increased, the paper hobby ousted everything superfluous from my life, including computer games.

This hobby greatly developed thinking, ingenuity and fine motor skills, because it was necessary to create durable paper structures, to carry out fine work with small details, and this is not quite the same as buying a ready-made assembly kit. (Assembling Bismarck out of paper was a big challenge)

Everything about it was perfect, except for one BUT! This time, for 1 tank model, it took from 5 to 9 months, over the years, time became less and less, work, study, family . . And I really wanted to do what I loved. nine0003

I found out about 3D printing by accident and immediately the idea appeared that many components and assemblies of tanks can simply be printed, while eliminating the routine, especially for tracks and rollers, making them out of paper is still a pleasure.

An obsessive idea firmly settled in my soul and did not give me rest, but the high cost of the printer cooled my hot ardor. And yet, with confidence, I continued to monitor prices and the situation in general.

After a couple of years, the decisive moment has arrived! I decided to buy, spending all the accumulated money! at that time, 22 thousand was a rather large amount for me and many others around me, so when I spent it on such a toy, many condemned me. nine0003

This miracle was printer Pryusha ah 4, at that time the top model, but now, of course, it's not the best option.

Printing did not work right away, it took a lot of time to set up, understand the operation of the printer, slicer, and upgrade it. He printed all sorts of little things that were not quite necessary, and then he completely cooled off.

A year later I was asked an important question - You bought a printer for a hobby, but you print anything, but not the target product, Why?

I answered that there are no ready-made models, and to create your own, you need knowledge of 3D modeling. nine0003

My opponent said that everything can be learned if you are busy doing what you like and made me promise to make at least one model.

More than one year has passed since then, a lot of effort has been invested, a lot of trial and error, experience has given an understanding of what and how to model, what and how to print better, here are a few examples of printing

There was one caveat, it's plastic. At some point it was expensive, after that I found a place to buy a cheap one. nine0003

But walking along the street and seeing bottles everywhere, thoughts involuntarily began to appear that all the material was underfoot.

In addition, the environmental situation with plastic in our cities, and throughout the world, is quite terrible, which, accordingly, also influenced my idea.

There were attempts to create an extruder for plastic recycling, but the ideas were in vain, the implementation failed.

However, the idea of ​​recycling PEK bottles seemed to me very simple and feasible in practice. As a result, it turned out that I was very mistaken about this. nine0003

RECYCLING PET BOTTLES (5L POTs)

I will try to briefly and concisely describe the essence of the work process, there are a lot of articles on this topic, but there is one BUT !!! In my implementation, they unfortunately almost did not help!

The bottom line is that everyone in the examples of videos and articles printed well, but all my attempts failed ...

There were many reasons for printing failure: cork formation, nozzle clogging, under-extrusion - the printer simply could not push PET the thread, or simply the feed gear, slid along the bar. nine0003

In addition, the length of the rod is always limited, it is necessary to constantly change the filament, but this problem was also solved.

Let's not pull the printer by the bar and start in order:

PREPARATION OF THE BOTTLE

It is very difficult to find an ideally even bottle, and it is not necessary.

First of all, we need:

Plastic plug - we make a hole for the valve in it, the valve is sold at any tire shop or can be ordered on Aliexpress

http://alli.pub/5s0hyt

we get the following:

We wind it on a bottle or flask with a descending cork. Do not forget to add a couple of drops of water to the bottle, then pump it up. You need to pump up quite a bit, without fanaticism, a bicycle pump can do just fine.

Next is the most dangerous and important moment

Our goal is to level the bottle and not to blow it up, there is no need for a lot of pressure!

We heat the bottle on a gas burner or with a building hair dryer (there are a lot of videos on YouTube on this topic, I advise you to read it), do not forget to scroll it, water drops will give steam, which will further expand the walls. nine0003

Do not forget about safety, goggles are required!! Breaking a bottle can burn, cotton itself is not very dangerous, but you can get scared from surprise (remove women, children, old people and a mentally unhealthy cat from the house).

I repeat!!!! our goal is to align, to align the bottle a little, and not to explode, so without fanaticism!

Let's skip the irony and get down to business. Here is a good example:

And now it’s already dangerous, the bottom of the bottle began to fall out, an early sign of a rupture, but this is not a 100% danger indicator, do not forget about the cork, it may also not withstand, especially for bottles, the walls of the cork are very thin there , strength is low! nine0003

After heating, immediately release the pressure, carefully press the valve, for example with a screwdriver, I warn you, a little steam will come out from there, take care of your eyes. And only after that we remove the cork.

Do not leave an inflated and heated bottle, after cooling it will collapse and lose its shape.

Well, we have passed the most dangerous section, let's move on! BOTTLE CUTTER

I must say right away that the bearing bottle cutter is by. Too confused, too complicated and incomprehensible, but the choice is yours. nine0003

Printing on a printer is also not an option! The PET tape will cut it like a knife through butter.

Our choice - only metal

or something similar to this

http://alli.pub/5s0i24

It's very easy to make, in a fastener store, buy a corner, M4 screws, nuts and washers for it. Well, do not forget about the clerical blade.

here is the result:

The number of washers adjusts the width of the PET strip, and the nuts clamp the knife blade. At the bottle, we cut off exactly the bottom, align it with scissors and make a small incision. nine0003

Pull and cut slowly, holding the bottle at an angle, keeping the width of the tape constant.

its width should be approximately 0.9 mm, but in the process of work you select individually.

The first time you most likely will not be able to cut as needed, be patient and bottles, everything will come with experience.

Here is the result:

AUTOMATIC FILAMING EXTRUDER

I will say right away that the engine, driver and generator are not the most important, I pulled the bar by hand, it is rather a moment of convenience and for the future. (links to relevant parts are below) nine0003

Most important node

example

https://youtu.be/BsdvdI-L3Vo

I think you recognized it, this is a fuser from a printer. We fix it on the corners, insert the heater.

http://alli.pub/5s0igw

I think they also recognized the nozzle, but it needs to be prepared.

At the exit we drill through a hole with a 1.7-2 mm drill (this will give about 1.7 bar at the exit)0003

And a little more, but to a shallower depth of 3 mm.

And at the very entrance 4-5 mm, to a depth even less

As a result, we will get a hole in the form of a cone, this is necessary so that the PET tape rolls into a rod better and easier, at the entrance it is wide, but moving along the nozzle it begins to roll up due to the heat shrink and the conical shape of the nozzle.

If you have a drill, then I advise you to slightly smooth out all the irregularities based on what we have drilled with a cone-shaped cutter. nine0003

The power supply regulates the heating temperature. (blocks are just a super indispensable thing in the household, I advise you to take 2, 1-1 to adjust the heating of the nozzle, the 2nd will go to power the broach motor) strong due to shrinkage, cut with scissors and pull the bar at the exit with tweezers.

We pull manually or with the help of electronics, I’ll say right away that skill is needed here, it won’t work the first time nine0003

and here is the result

If you want to automate the work, then here are the necessary details:

Generator

http://alli.pub/5s0esv

TB6600 stepper motor driver

http://alli.pub/5s0i7k

EXTRUDER

What can I say, I tried the standard version, I tried the titanium extruder - and all in vain ... this does not mean that you will not succeed, it means that I very tired of dealing with the problem for 1 year and found the ideal. nine0003

Meet the perfect extruder that eliminated most of my problems! http://alli.pub/5s0i9w

Its advantage is that 2 gears rotate simultaneously and have notches, even a smooth and hard bar will not stand a chance. The same extruder is needed for pulling the filament, at the exit the rod will turn out with notches, which will be well displayed during printing

FILEMENT TUBE

http://alli.pub/5s0f6v

The inner diameter must be as large as possible !! nine0003

In my case, the inner diameter is 3mm, the outer diameter is 4mm, otherwise the filament will get stuck, due to expansion and variable size

much more, as a result of which, when cooling, a cork forms in the fuser - as a result, a print failure

THERMAL BARRIER (THROAT)

must be taken as in example 1, with a through hole, for the reason described above, nine0003

Option 2 will not work - there will be a jam

RADIATOR

Here I advise you to take something larger, here is an example

http://alli. pub/5s0g80

If the heat sink is too small, there is a risk that there will be a filament crease as a result of overheating

COOLING

In my case with a large heatsink, cooling is not needed!

Let me explain:

The hot radiator dries the bar as it travels to the nozzle, and the bar is already warm and easier to melt. nine0003

For the experiment, I decided to install a cooler and here clicks of the extruder began, the printer did not have time to melt the bar, as a result - the bar was crumpled and printing failed.

In general - if you decide on cooling - take care of the possibility of its regulation!

NOZZLE

This is no less important moment!!!

We use any, but it needs to be drilled, as I described earlier, but you can immediately use a 3mm drill, not naturally through. nine0003

The bottom line is that the plastic will melt, as it were, in the nozzle chamber that you drill, and not in the thermal block, as it was provided for by the design, and there will be no plug during retraction, the molten mass will remain in the nozzle chamber.

PRINT SPEED AND PLASTIC FEED

Change the bar size from 1.7 to 1.4 or 1.5 in the slicer settings. This is due to the fact that the homemade bar inside will not be hollow, so its feed should be greater! Otherwise, the walls of the part will be thin. nine0003

The print speed, on the contrary, must be reduced, in addition, the print speed of the supports, and the fill must be equal to the print speed of the walls.

print example

https://youtu.be/jIWRY24LOf8

ALLOYING THE ROD INTO A SINGLE WHOLE

Experience and skill are needed here! Be patient !

Tried a lot of things, all without success. I give you a working method right away

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-nrcfdk44Y

We set it on fire and melt it until it burns, carefully, I got a serious burn! nine0003

We extinguish, connect, blow (or better with some water).

I cut off the excess with wire cutters and clean it with sandpaper to the ideal.

Gently twist into a coil, the connection is not perfect and is destroyed when pressed hard, but in general it keeps its shape.

Total

I consider this processing method to be one of the best. Yes, it is not perfect, it is a little confused, there are flaws, not the whole bottle is recycled. But still, as an initial start, this method can and should be applied, just imagine how you can reduce the amount of plastic in the environment if every second person who has a printer uses a similar approach. nine0003

Here is an example of printing and here is a preview of the 3D model that I prepared for printing, so to speak - expectation and reality.

As you can see, I am still in the printing stage, I will print all the knots with a bottle as much as possible, I will finish off all the little things that the pryusha cannot handle with a photopolymer printer, and after priming and painting, everything will look no worse than a sketch.

You can see more photos, follow the complete assembly and my work at the link

https://vk.com/public_model_hends

It will also be important to say that parts made of such plastic are practically indestructible, it is difficult and sometimes impossible to break by hand.

It can be used to print durable parts or children's toys, which is in the plans.

Or collectible toys

You don't want to throw away such a thing, you can also give a toy to another child as you don't need it. (Nemesis does not count, not every child wants this, although I would be very happy about this as a child) nine0003

A lot of time has passed since I collected the first paper model and a lot of effort has been spent, since then I have mastered 3D modeling, painting, 3D printing.

Small hobby - gave direction and understanding to what I want to do in life and how to earn a living.

Mastering 3D modeling has opened up the prospects for developing models for Game Dev / but even here 3D printing does not stand apart, because I use the Hipoly model for printing, so to speak - waste-free production in everything. nine0003

Here is an example of a model I created for printing, which was ordered by a modeler from Rome

and here is the same model, but already Low Poly and for Game dev.

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