3-D printer filament made from recycled plastic

[Ginny Jolly]

Hi everyone.

I'm interested in making filament for 3-D printing out of recycled plastic. I'm thinking polypropylene (#5) or HDPE (#2). Is it something a 3—D printer can use without messing up the printer? That's the main question because if it can't be used without messing up the printer, then it is an obvious no-no.

That being said, is there a mechanism that can be used to make filament easily?

How closely would quality control need to be monitored for it to work?

Thanks guys. 

Ginny

[Chris Hettinger]

Ginny,

Google using plastic soda bottles to make filament.

Chris

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[Ginny Jolly]

Thanks.

Gin😎

[Tim Miller]

It probably won't hurt the 3d printer other than a clogged nozzle and maybe bad smells. Those are already 2 very difficult materials to print with even with a good source of filament.  There is a lot that can cause things to go wrong. Including but not limited to humidity trapped in the plastic, incorrect temperature, contamination of other plastics, contamination of non plastics ie dirt and food(clogging and fire risk), how many times the plastic has been heated and cooled, off gassing of the elastomers due to age, additives can create some unhealthy fumes, uneven size of filament; either too large (jams) too small (fail to extrude or under extrude). 

On Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 3:17 AM Ginny Jolly <ginnyjo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks.

Gin😎

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[Tim Miller]

oh, the machines are available 

https://www.filabot.com/collections/filabot-core

[Brian Harper]

I saw this video a couple of days ago about a DIY filament recycler. I have no idea if it works, just happened to come across it and then saw this post :)

Here's the link: https://youtu.be/BT04glGDjB4?si=i-ML1vzDV91Rs4oc

Brian

[Ginny Jolly]

Thanks, all you guys! I'll have to scrap the idea, because I found that HDPE and LDPE (maybe even polypropylene, too) will slump if you try to print with it.

All I can hope for is for researchers to come up with the enzymes wax worms use to break down #2 & #4 plastic (and more, maybe?) and the fact that mealworms, wax worms, and other wormy beings can bring plastics back to the environment safely.