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Hey everyone,

Quick question. Is there a company or place that recycles 3d printing material? I’ve accumulated a lot of support structures, brims, etc. and I’m wondering if anyone has an interest or can repurpose these scraps. Otherwise, to the recycling can it goes.

Will

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Hi Will,

There is no real way of recycling the supports, but it would be a good idea to keep hold of some of it just in case you want to make a glue. If you buy acetone and mix it with the plastic, the plastic dissolves leaving a type of glue. This is ideal for gluing 3D printed parts together which acts by fusing the parts. Making this yourself is useful as there are very few glues out there that work effectivitly when 3D printing and those that do work are usually just this. Often I will save any failed prints and supports, then mix with acetone to act as a glue. I would recommend if you were to do this, to look into how to make it on YouTube, but be careful as acetone vapours are dangerous and highly flammable. If you decide to make this glue do it outdoors or in a well ventilated are. It is also best to make only a few hours before use (at least half and hour) then apply it. This is because it takes a while for the plastic to dissolve into a consistant texture. I would also suggest not making it for the sake of it as the mixture hardens over time (no matter how airtight the container is) and you’ll have to add more acetone to use it again.

It can be used for the following

  • Slurry - a runny consistency particularly used for applying to the printer bed before use.
  • Glue - a slightly thicker consistency used for fusing/ gluing parts.
  • Filler type - used to fill in gaps with the prints.

If you do decide to recycle it in this way it may take a while to get the correct consistency, as many people will not give out their mix ratio. This is an effective way of using left over plastic. I have never found any other way of recycling the plastic

I hope this helps you and I hope it comes in use in the future.

2 Likes
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Thanks for the reply! I am definitely aware of reusing material in this way but I still find myself with considerable excess in leftover material.

Maybe someone could form a company that takes in these scraps and recycles it back to filament :smiley:

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It would be a great idea I f a company did do that and recycled the plastic for you, but due to the small impact and little use of these printers, it would cost far more than what it is worth. I’m sorry about telling what you already knew and hope you find a solution to your problem!

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You might want to check these out if an option. Recycle your own filament…

Filastruder - http://www.filastruder.com/
Filabot - http://www.filabot.com/
Extrusionbot - http://www.extrusionbot.com/
Noztek - http://www.noztek.com/

Strooder - http://omnidynamics.co.uk/shop/Strooder

There are a ton of other too…