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3D printer using recycled plastic


Recycled plastic for 3D printing

25

May

2021

|

10:22

Europe/Amsterdam

Covestro and Polymaker collaborate on a polycarbonate filament made from recycled plastic

Summary

  • Reduced CO₂ footprint
  • Broad product portfolio on display at TCT Asia trade show

20210525_Recycled-Plastic-for-3D-Printing-Pic

Polymaker® PC-r polycarbonate filament for 3D printing is made from a Covestro plastic recyclate produced from used water bottles from Chinese water bottle manufacturer Nongfu Spring. © Covestro

Polymaker, a leading manufacturer of 3D printing materials, uses a recycled polycarbonate developed by Covestro, a globally leading materials supplier, to produce Polymaker™ PC-r, the polycarbonate filament for 3D printing made from recycled plastic. The material comes from 19-liter bottles from Chinese water supplier Nongfu Spring, which contain polycarbonate in a fairly pure form. Covestro blends the plastic waste with virgin material to yield a polycarbonate base that can be extruded into filaments for use in electronics automotive and other industries.

The filament is particularly suitable for brands wanting to make their supply chain more sustainable, especially in combination with 3D printing technology for production on an industrial scale. Compared to virgin material, the filament using recycled material has a lower carbon footprint. The product is also more durable and meets industry-specific requirements such as the Blue Angel and EPEAT seal.

The fact that the waste comes from one single source is an advantage. This means that no prior sorting and identification of the plastics is necessary. The plastic waste is quite pure and can be recycled in a cost-effective manner. In addition, it is available in sufficient quantities. In China, large-volume water bottles are widespread in private households and public places. These are collected and refilled again and again before finally discarded and sent for recycling. This is another example of how Covestro is helping to build a circular economy in collaboration with partners along the value chains.

The high temperature post-consumer product has outstanding thermal stability and strength. Because of its properties, a constant temperature chamber is required to print successfully.

Machine manufacturer INTAMSYS conducted print tests with Polymaker™ PC-r on its FUNMAT PRO 410 printer. The printer can achieve a dual jet temperature of up to 500°C and a platform temperature of up to 160°C. The chamber temperature can be up to 90°C, which prevents warping of printed parts and allows larger and more complex models to be printed more successfully.

Tests have demonstrated that the Polymaker™ PC-r material is extremely easy to process. The test scores show good values for tensile strength, Young's modulus, flexural strength and flexural modulus, which were slightly higher than standard polycarbonate.

Extensive range of products at the TCT Asia trade show

Polymaker will be presenting a wide range of materials for 3D printing, ranging from high-performance plastics to unique aesthetic solutions, at booth number F44 at TCT Asia, the 3D printing trade show in Shanghai, China, from May 26-28, 2021.

At the trade show, Covestro and its additive manufacturing business, including the newly acquired business from DSM, will be exhibitingon two booths as both had registered separately prior to the transaction. Visitors to the trade show are invited to visit Covestro at booth number E46 and the former DSM AM at a at booth number C48 to learn more about the company's broadend product portfolio.

Boilerplate

About Covestro:

With 2020 sales of EUR 10.7 billion, Covestro is among the world’s leading polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative, sustainable solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. In doing so, Covestro is fully committed to the circular economy. The main industries served are the automotive and transportation industries, construction, furniture and wood processing, as well as electrical, electronics, and household appliances industries. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics, health and the chemical industry itself. At the end of 2020, Covestro has 33 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 16,500 people (calculated as full-time equivalents).

About Polymaker:

Polymaker is a company that produces advanced 3D printing materials specifically engineered for a wide range of applications across many industries. At the heart of Polymaker is a large research and development laboratory which drives the company forward through constant innovation and testing. All Polymaker materials are formulated and optimized for 3D printing while maintaining the unique properties inherent to the respective base polymer. 
Find more information at www. polymaker.com.

About INTAMSYS:

INTAMSYS is a world-leading high-tech company providing 3D printing and industrial direct additive manufacturing solutions for high-performance materials. Focusing on aerospace, aviation, automotive, electronic manufacturing, consumer goods, healthcare, scientific research and other industries, the company provides comprehensive additive manufacturing solutions from functional test prototyping, tooling and fixture manufacturing to direct mass production of final products, covering equipment, software, high-performance materials and printing services. 
For further information, please visit www.intamsys.com.

Forward-looking statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Covestro AG. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Covestro’s public reports which are available at www.covestro.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

Open-source machine Polyformer turns bottles into 3D printing filament

Ali Morris | Leave a comment

California-based industrial designer Reiten Cheng has developed a recycling machine that can be 3D printed using open-source instructions and used to turn PET bottles into filament for additive manufacturing.

Polyformer was designed to make it cheaper and easier for independent makers to create products from repurposed waste materials instead of relying on virgin plastic.

Polyformer is an open-source recycling machine

The design is open source, meaning that a step-by-step manual detailing its construction is freely available online so that it may be used and adapted by others.

The L-shaped gadget is made from 3D-printed parts combined with a few off-the-shelf components found in traditional 3D printers.

"The entire machine was printed using recycled PET bottles, which gives a nice translucent look to it," Cheng said.

Stacked bearings are used to cut plastic bottles into continuous ribbons

Polyformer is equipped with a slicing tool with stacked bearings that can cut plastic bottles into long, continuous ribbons.

Users can feed these ribbons into a so-called hot end, which heats, melts and feeds the thermoplastic through a brass nozzle to create a filament with a diameter of 1.75 millimetres.

The end of this filament can then be mounted onto a motorised red spool, which will pull the rest of the ribbon through the hot end and wind up the filament as it is created. Once the spool is full, it can be taken off to be mounted and used in a 3D printer.

The thermoplastic is fed through a brass nozzle

Polyformer has a modular design that allows users to easily swap out parts and modify the machine to their liking.

Since making the project public last month, Cheng said there are now around 130 people in Polyformer's community on social media platform Discord, who have machines under construction.

Some users have proposed adding grinders so that the machine can recycle different kinds of plastic waste, while others have suggested recycling cassette tapes and fabrics.

Mobile AI-powered recycling plant Trashpresso wins World Design Impact Prize

Polyformer follows on from a number of other open-source projects, such as VoronDesign's 3D-printed 3D printer and the Recreator3D pultrusion kit.

Together, Cheng says these kinds of machines could eventually help to forge a decentralised system of manufacturing and recycling.

"I am imagining a future where products can be manufactured at home or in a community centre and be recycled into things at the end of their life that can be used again to manufacture new products right on-site," Cheng told Dezeen.

"The technology might not be there yet but I believe it's not far from possible if we keep developing and implementing it as a community. "

The filament is wound onto a motorised spool

Last year, a number of architects including Bjarke Ingels collaborated on an open-source project to make 3D-printed coronavirus face shields for hospital workers.

Ingels argued that the pandemic has revealed "the shortcomings of the traditional supply chain" and that decentralised local manufacturing could replace global supply chains.

The photography is by James Chou.

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9 Projects 3D Printing From Plastic Waste

Plastic waste, which not so long ago went straight to landfill, is increasingly being recycled, not least 3D printers.

By using post-consumer plastic as a raw material for 3D printing, corporations, small businesses and even individuals can create new products with real value while removing plastic waste from the environment. Let's figure out what is created from plastic waste using a 3D printer and who does it.

How to prepare material for 3D printing from plastic waste

The process of making useful products from local plastic waste using 3D printing is quite simple. Known as distributed recycling and additive manufacturing, or DRAM for short, it involves the following steps:

• Plastic waste collection.

• Waste sorting and cleaning.

• Shredding waste into plastic pieces.

• Extruding 3D printing filament from plastic shred with an extruder.

• Product printing.

Video: thenewraw.org

Thread made in this way retains almost all the same qualities as pure plastic, but is much cheaper. According to a study by Aubrey L. Verne (et al.) of Michigan Technological University, a 3D printer can print objects at a cost 1,000 times less than if commercial polymer fibers were used.

There are different types of shredders, extruders and 3D printers on the market today, both in terms of cost and complexity of the tasks performed.

For example, for home use, manufacturers have long used a simple blender or grinder to grind up 3D print stock and failed prints, but this is not a long-term or high-volume solution.

More and more 3D printers can print with raw shredded plastic or bulky plastic pellets instead of filament. This simplifies the process and reduces energy consumption. The cost of a simple 3D printer can be $2,000, and a complex industrial one can cost more than $150,000.

Introducing 9 successful projects that prove that 3D printing from household plastic waste is a viable solution for removing plastic from the environment, while also making a difference.

Plastic Bottle Olympic Podiums

Unbeknownst to everyone, recycled plastic has taken center stage at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Each of the 98 podiums where medals were presented to Olympic winners was 3D printed from waste plastic.

Catwalk material has been collected by Japanese citizens over the past two years through a program sponsored by consumer goods giant Proctor & Gamble. More than 2,000 bins have been set up across the country to collect empty drink bottles, shampoo containers and other plastic waste. Plastic waste has also been fished out of the seas surrounding Japan.

After the games, some of the podium plastic will be used to educate the public about sustainability, and much of it will be recycled back into packaging for P&G products.

Plastic waste bins

Screenshot: 3D printed waste bin by Justina Zdanovichute, in collaboration with R3direct.
(Source: Justyna Zdanovichute/CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

How about collecting plastic waste in trash cans made from the same waste? Italian design company R3direct makes them and more using 3D printing. The company has one stated goal: to design and 3D print products from plastic waste. R3direct's product list grows longer every year, from artwork made from local plastic waste to practical urban furniture.

R3direct states that their printing technology can use plastic pellets immediately after grinding, skipping the filament extrusion step. This allows them to further reduce their energy consumption and CO2 emissions with 3D printed furniture made from waste plastic.

Trendy Fishnet Seats

Photo: facebook/@bluecycle use of marine plastic waste from shipping and fishing.

New Raw has also teamed up with The Coca-Cola Company for the Zero Waste Future program in Thessaloniki, Greece. Consumers will bring their plastic waste to the Zero Waste Lab, which has a plastic recycling facility and a robotic arm, to create custom-made modern furniture.

One of the partnership's furniture series is called Elements and includes a solarium, walk-in closet and walkway made from recycled marine plastic waste. There's no better way to showcase the potential of recycling plastic waste than to let people enjoy a clean beach while lying on a lounge chair made from what used to pollute the water.

New Raw is launching a Print Your City program in several neighborhoods that allows local residents to recycle their plastic waste through a robotic 3D printing process that can turn sorted plastic into outdoor furniture.

Music festival waste sunglasses frames

Photo: instagram/@yuma.labs.circular closed loop models.

Yuma Labs uses both powder pad 3D printing and injection molding to make their sunglasses. The raw materials are recycled soda bottles and bio-based nylon. In the future, the frames of sunglasses can be completely recycled.

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.

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.

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.

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. 9The 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.

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.

Modular circular workspace printed from recycled PET (supplied by the Port of Rotterdam) using a CFAM printer and reinforced with fiberglass. The convenient and strong workplace easily disassembles and moves. The round shape ensures pleasant acoustics of the workspace, it is equipped with ventilation, heating, electricity and LED lighting.

Beautiful objects made from garbage

Photo: instagram/@therogerie

Canadian company The Rogerie is working to remove waste from the environment, with the help of small suppliers who remove it from landfills and oceans, and create from this waste beautiful, useful items.

The Rogerie's 3D printed product catalog includes mugs, bathroom accessories, teapots and a wide selection of flower pots, among others. Customers love these products - by purchasing them they are contributing to the removal of plastic waste from the environment.

The company's founders say they are constantly looking for new waste streams and also have their own recycling program. They are willing to use anything from old TVs to food packaging and car parts.

Coffee stirrer chandeliers

Photo: instagram/@utilizestudios

The Utilize project turned used coffee stirrers into chandeliers, soft plastic items into wicker baskets, and fishing tackle into chairs. And all this with the help of an oven and a desktop 3D printer from Ultimaker.

Utilize is more than a design studio, it specializes in helping companies transition to a circular economy and create sustainable products. They aim to help businesses reduce, reuse and recycle waste through 3D printing.

“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. - "Why isn't this being done?" .

Based on: all3dp.com

3D printing plastic recycling, PET.

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The article refers to Re-fill (recycled PET plastic for 3D printing).

This time we're looking at converting plastic into 3D printing filament.

Recycling is not as easy as it sounds, and many companies have tried before and now to start using recycled filament for their 3D printers. Anyone who has tried to make their own filament on a small scale will understand how difficult it is, even with the newer plastic pellets.

Last year I was very lucky: I got 3DFilaprint and it was a big recycling project, it taught me that making quality filament is very, very difficult.

I produced several batches of recycled ABS for a local shop. I have even tried to recycle some polypropylene and PET, with limited success.

Of course, the easiest way is to use ready-made PET, PLA and WoodFill granules. Making my own colored WoodFill yarn was a lot of fun and exciting. Doing it professionally - for your home 3d printer, to make it from plastic scrap, having previously cleaned it, melted it and squeezed it out, is not at all an easy task.

I posted this photo of the failed print above - the print failed due to a mechanical printer error - it's not the fault of the bad filament.

I was very happy to win a Refil PET reel. It contains up to 90% recycled plastic bottles. The team has been working on this plastic for the last 3 years. How much you get is 750 grams of thread, while the total weight including packaging is about 900 grams. What it looks like -

I had a full roll of clear PET and a sample of black ABS filament, which is made from recycled car panels. PET is indeed very transparent. It's so transparent, in fact, that I'm even a little concerned that it's really recycled material and not new. I was expecting bubbles and maybe even a few slight color casts or a slight opacity.

PET plastic bottles and recycling symbol.

The most important aspect is dimensional accuracy. My spool was 1.75mm and I'm more picky about it than 2.85mm thread. I measured about 50 times at the beginning, middle and end. The whole spool was 1.76mm - almost negligible deviation. How do they print? I started printing at a normal PET temperature of 230 degrees C and printed a simple single layer vase for optical clarity testing.

Singvers classic bottle.

Printed in actual size - for comparison - glass on the left, PET on the middle and white PLA on the right. It used to be a PET bottle, and now, after being recycled and 3D printed, it's a PET bottle again :) But printing at 230 is not very good for this particular type of PET material -

Bubbles as far as I can tell not moisture content. Lowering the print temperature corrects this issue.

You won't get sharp prints even with good PET, the layering process causes a slightly translucent final print.

I love all types of PET and use Taulman t-glass and ColorfabbXT regularly. In the image above, you can see the same print with these different PET materials. You can print whatever you want with PET, although it will be very slow.

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