Water-soluble plastic: a potential game-changer in streamlining the recycling of 3D-printed items?
Get ready to revolutionize your 3D printing game! A groundbreaking idea is floating around, and it's all about making multi-material 3D prints recyclable. The struggle to recycle 3D printed plastics is real, especially when you mix multiple materials in one print. But the researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have come up with a genius way to tackle this issue.
They've thought up a method that incorporates water-soluble seams and joiners directly into the design, strategically placing them between various materials. Sounds familiar? That's because they're proposing the use of PVA - a water-soluble support material already in use. The PVA buffers need to be smartly woven into the model to ensure strength and integrity. Once the printed model wears out, just dunk it in water, let the PVA dissolve, and voila! The different materials can be easily sorted for recycling.
Want to give it a go yourself? Test it with PrusaSlicer or Bambu Slicer, paint a model with different materials, then turn on Beam Interlocking. The magic lies in the fact that Beam Interlocking weaves materials together that normally wouldn't bond.
Now, don't get too excited just yet. Recycling 3D-printed plastic is still quite the challenge, even for commercial recycling companies. They've got no interest in PLA and ABS, the two most common materials, due to labels being missing or recycling bin information being scarce. Even if you label your homemade plastics, they'd still be classified as 'other', aka category 7, which poses a problem for recycling.
With a few exceptions, makers are left with no choice but to get resourceful with their scraps. Companies like Loop3D and Artme3D are paving the way with their innovative solutions. Loop3D, for example, created a desktop filament recycler on Kickstarter that not only shreds waste plastic but also remelt it into filament. Artme3D offers a DIY filament maker, but you'll need to find your own method to grind the material. If you don't want to take matters into your own hands, you could always send your PLA and PETG scraps to Printerior, a recycling partner that mixes community waste with industrial PLA remnants to produce fresh Recycled PLA.
But what if you don't live near a recycler? Fear not! You have options. Go green with PHA, a bio-based filament that's tougher than PLA and designed to decompose when exposed to microbes in a compost bin or on the roadside as trash.Tests are currently underway, so it may take a while before we see it break down.
If you're looking for something entirely new, Timeplast has sent us samples of its intriguing 'time programmable' material. This material can dissolve in simple water, and while it's still in the development phase, it's promising. The company claims it could change the world's oceans for the better if all packing materials were made from this proprietary plastic. The recipe is under wraps, but we know it's mainly made of water, sugar, cellulose, and vinegar. When dissolved, it leaves behind only benign byproducts, according to the company. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates on this game-changer!
This groundbreaking technology incorporates water-soluble seams and joiners into multimaterial 3D prints, enabling easy recycling. For instance, the use of PVA allows users to dissolve the PVA buffers in water, facilitating the recycling of various materials.
In our quest for sustainable 3D printing, we also explore biodegradable filaments such as PHA, designed to decompose when exposed to microbes. While it's still in the testing phase, it offers an exciting alternative to conventional materials.
