Sustainable Making: Recycling 3D Print Waste

Tons of failed 3D prints are thrown into the trash every year. To promote a more sustainable maker experience at RIT, we are developing a system to shred 3D print waste then extruding it into new filament that can be used again to make new prints! There are two main aspects to the system. The first machine we use is the Reclaimer, where large parts are shredded into smaller particles, then shredded again into granules. The granules are then mixed with a small amount of virgin plastic and loaded into the extruder, which extrudes new filament to be used in future prints.

This machine shreds failed prints into granules to be used in the extruder