3D Printing and its Waste (Cassidy James)

 3D Printing and Reproducibility of Art

3 Dimensional Printing has changed the art world and the market and is rapidly growing. First, there was a 3D drawing pen that would extrude melted plastic and harden within seconds, making it possible to create almost anything you want. Now it is the same concept but even bigger. As someone who used 3D printing for their small business, I can first handedly see the effects that it has on the environment. From misprints to the plastic breaking to trying to find the perfect size for an item that you desire. What happens to all this waste from the misprints? Is there something we can do without mess ups?

The average person who uses 3D printing software does not know exactly what to do with 3D printing waste. According to HP, the printing company, there are two different ways to recycle your waste “You can turn the plastic back into material that can be reused for 3D printing. Or you can [reuse] plastic to make objects used in other manufacturing processes, such as injection molding” (Can You Recycle 3D Printer Plastics?). This all depends on the type of 3D printing that you use.  Some people take the leftover plastic and put it into a silicone mold and melt the plastic so it forms into said mold, creating a decoration of some sort. One of the most useful ways to reuse scrap plastic is by remelting and making it into new filament, but that process is very expensive and time consuming that the average person does not have time for. In fact, “Nearly all 3D printer filaments, including nylon and polycarbonate, are classified Type 7 or “Other” by standards organization ASTM International and are not typically recycled by municipal programs” (Can You Recycle 3D Printer Plastics?). So you can basically reuse the plastic but not necessarily recycle the plastic by throwing it in a recycling bin. Also, a lot of the plastic has resin in it and resin is terrible for the environment and is not recyclable at all. On the other hand, if you do curbside recycling you have to fill out a form and mark the scrap with “Resin Identification Code” or it will not be picked up. For a small hobbyist like myself, it is really hard to find something to do with those leftover scraps.

One video on Youtube that I found interesting was this video by Dr.D-flo titled “Recycling 3D Prints and Waste Plastic into Filament (PET & PLA)”. He goes into detail on the process of taking plastics and recycling it into new filament. This is a 40 minute video that is not a terrible watch but is definitely helpful for someone who is looking to do this. Even though the video is only 40 minutes long, it's going to take a lot longer to actually get everything separated, shredded, melted and so on. The shredding process took about 30 minutes to reduce down into about 1 kilogram of plastic parts.

According to Teaching Tech on Youtube, he states that when it comes to 3D printing it's complicated to decide whether or not it is better for the environment. I honestly found that reading the comments under this video helped me understand more because it was personal experiences from all different kinds of people who use 3D printing with people saying that it does help and other people saying that their stuff goes straight to the landfill. But just like everything else in this world, it depends on that person and what their purpose is. Are they planning on making fidgets or toys? Or are they planning on using it for something else that is more functional rather than fun. 

Having said that, there are companies that have tried other ways to make building materials for 3D printing. In China these engineers have found a way to utilize solid mine waste in the building materials for 3D printing. Solid mind waste is leftover materials from mining operations. This can include rock, soil, and other materials that are left over and not used for the final product. Mine waste like this is important because it helps the impact that it has on the environment and can offer more opportunities for recycling (like 3D printing). 

In my experience, I make clay cutters for my polymer clay business. It is cheaper to make these cutters than to buy them from Etsy. There is a certain website that I use to help make these cutters. My biggest problem is that the printer is my brothers and he uses a very basic printer. What I am printing are very small pieces that the printer can't even print half the time which ends up being leftover filament and waste that I cannot do anything with. It takes me more than one try to find the right size and to make sure that the end product looks right and cuts my clay correctly because I am trying to save time with these cutters. As of right now, it is not worth the time and effort it takes to use the printer, therefore I support a small business on Etsy and get my cutters from there because I have never been disappointed by them

So is 3D ultimately depends on who and what they are printing. Whether or not is for fun or for business. You as a person need to decide what you are going to do with the leftovers.

Works Cited

“Can You Recycle 3D Printer Plastics?” HP® Official Site, www.hp.com/us-en/printers/3d-printers/learning-center/3d-printer-plastics-recycling.html#:~:text=Today%2C%20there%20are%20two%20ways,processes%2C%20such%20as%20injection%20molding. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024. 

Zhang, Xiaowei, et al. “Utilization of Solid Mine Waste in the Building Materials for 3D Printing.” PLoS ONE, vol. 18, no. 10, Oct. 2023, pp. 1–17. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292951.