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There are a few options. Machines are available which grind the used plastic into fine pieces, melt it down, and extrude it as filament to be reused. Filabot is perhaps the most well known. Depending on where you live the local recycling programs may accept PLA or ABS. They will then shred it and melt it down for reuse. PLA is bio-degradable so you can put ...

This is not a good idea. Both filaments have different melting points, that of ABS being much higher than that of PLA. To melt the ABS you have to heat the plastic to the point where the PLA starts to degrade.

The "obvious" answer is re-grinding the prints and making more filament. Unfortunately, this isn't yet a very economical or simple operation. A decent filament extruder capable of holding acceptable diameter tolerances is around $1000, and even then they can be pretty fidgety to operate. You have to have a LOT of volume throughput in your filament extruder ...

It will be very difficult to find a recycling facility that will accept your 3D prints, because they're mainly set up to handle packaging material (which constitutes the vast majority of plastic waste) such as bottles. If you sent your 3D prints to your municipal recycling programme they would at best sort it out from the packaging material and incinerate it,...

Quality depends on 3 things: Quality of pellets (purity, fillers, color) Where/how they are stored before and during the extrusion (humidity, contaminants) Have a filter in your extruder to get rid of random junk and air bubbles ending up in your filament (250 micron wire mesh filter) There's no secret formula the filament producing companies have, they ...

Weld the fragment to the beginning of a new spool and use it that way. Most are made from metal so they aren't that easy to make at home. Here is another answer that lists other methods to weld filament including using heat shrink tubing. As you mentioned, you can use it for friction welding. Use it for pin/studs/rivets/hinges in prints. Throw it away. 1....

Here is a great article on the subject, How to make your own filament by recycling old 3D prints | Part 1. At $20/kg for new material, it is going to be hard for recycling to break even; but, if the cost is not your concern, there are some options. Here is another creative option that I just saw... Cue amazing electric guitar riff: Guitar Picks (and ...

If you're more interested in the recycling and reuse aspect than the re-print aspect, you could melt all the scrap filament onto a cookie sheet or into a bar (like in a bread ban). You could then manually work the material, or use a CNC machine to carve out your next thing. This Youtube video refers to HDPE, but the same concept will apply to other ...

You can basically use any machine that pulverizes your pellets into small pieces. One guy on 3dhubs, explained it in details. My conclusion is that you can recycle everything using this data gathered from research up in link there. Also, you can use any plastic material and pulverize it into pellets (even from the bottles) and you can try to do this ...

This question has been asked on just about every forum out there. Here's one example from filabot.com . The reality however, is that this process will take several hundred years in a typical landfill. To biodegrade, PLA requires a laundry list of conditions to effectively break down. Specifically - oxygen, a temperature of 140+ degrees *[Fahrenheit ...

The welding option is only appropriate if you have the tool needed for it, the lighter welding is really hard to do and if your printer allows it you could just watch for the moment the spool runs out and push the new filament as the last of the previous one gets extruded, that's what I used to do on my bowden extruder reprap and apart from a really ...

Producing own filament is a challenging task. I see main pitfall in producing filament so it has same quality as you get in shop. You have to: constant round-shape diameter diameter tolerance ±0.05 mm avoid bubbles and other defects avoid object in filament (depends on pellets quality) store pellets properly (high humidity is a problem) Additionally you ...

Simply put, PLA and ABS should not be mixed into a filament. The most common issues most printers experience, such as delayering, warping, etc., are addressed completely differently based on the material you are working with. There are many examples of this, and I will attempt to go over some of the basic ones. You will have extreme difficulty getting ...

I ended up buying a little handheld 3D pen. It comes in handy when printing models that require assembly. You can use the leftover filament in the 3D pen. If you don't have a 3D pen, you can use a soldering iron (as long as you can control the temp) to weld items together. I works well for part repairs and assembly. The 3D pens is also handy for quick ...

there is a project called precious plastic and there is a plastic shredder, but it is a rather expensive solution. As I am waiting for parts for my Lyman extruder, my plan is to hammer the parts and then process in old kitchen robot with steel working area, an example here The paper shredder will be ok as long as you can feed it with plastic.

https://preciousplastic.com/ Is a fantastic project that promotes plastic recycling into useful objects. They offer free blueprints, videos on how to build the recycling equipment, and offer suggestions on what to make of your recycled goods. Personally, I am looking into making garden bricks or paver stones. I have not found the ideal temperatures or ...

At Chaos Computer Club summit in Winter there was a talk from a Maker who recycled by himself. How can be 3d printing a dual use technology? Print more things, produce less waste, save money! You can see the talk here https://media.ccc.de/v/32c3-7321-re_cycle Update: At Fabcon3D in Erfurt/Germany there presented two startups their prototype for filament ...

Filament made of Polylactic acid (PLA) is usually made of biological materials (such as corn), and can therefore be considered bio-degradable in most cases. Whether the filament is 100% bio-degradable (and non-toxic for the surroundings) will depend on the specific formula used by each individual filament manufacturer. (Many manufacturers include various ...

I am asking if there is a machine that can turn a plastic bottle into usable filament. I've seen several projects (one example, and another) where plastic bottles are sliced into long tapes, and the tape is then fed through an extruder. It's a somewhat simpler process than shredding bottles and then melting and extruding the shreds; since the tape is ...

I currently use the 60/40 recycling mix ratio and find that it works very well. I do however wonder if there is an even more effective ratio in order to recycle used powder. I currently discard all "cake" powder (powder remaining in the build piston) and am only "recycling" the push off powder. I found this paper but it's unclear if they are reusing just ...

Based on the frequencies of most UV cure resins, your suggestion has merit. Other factors come into consideration, however. These illumination devices have a limited life span. Running the UV diodes for the purpose of curing out the resin from the IPA will "use up" the portion of time otherwise useful for curing models. Additionally, the UV light ...

I'm in the same boat as you, was contemplating spending $2000 on a shredder, and I was inspired by this RepRap article "Plastic Shredder using Kitchen Blender". In which someone cleverly reminds us that thermoplastics melt. Put them on a baking tray on baking paper: Melt them in the oven at a high temperature until they're pancakes: The link puts ...

Plastic in general and 3d printer plastic specifically doesn't really melt so much as get softer in a range of temperatures (in a state refered to as "plastic" rather than liquid). Below that range, it is a solid. Above that range, it decomposes and ultimately burns. If you want to make a solid block, you need to not only heat it to a specific ...

PLA starts to char at about 220 °C. However, it also starts to soft at about 100 °C and becomes sloopy (and printable!) at 180 °C. Putting the oven to anything above 180 °C will, with the heating cycle an oven undergoes, result in air that is above the temperature it degrades into burning plastic. keeping the temperature at or below 180 °C should prevent ...

Your kitchen oven is for food. I'd strongly recommend using a different heating device for this. Your oven probably has oils in it that are contaminating the plastic, and the plastic will make your later cooked-food contaminated. I suggest cleaning your oven before cooking food, too. Personally I've had good luck softening PLA with a hot air gun, ...

You can make it biodegradable but it is very hard you need oxygen a temperature of 140+ degrees and a 2/3 cocktail of organic substrate these are usually absent outside of a industrial composting facility. I had the same question when I got my printer - it's better to just buy recycled filament or recycle your own but PLA is a byproduct of milk production so ...

TL;DR - No... well, yes you can, but it won't decompose in your lifetime. Addressing this question fully - from the point of composting, rather than landfill: From Wikipedia - PLA - End of life: Composting: PLA is biodegradable under industrial composting conditions, starting with chemical hydrolysis process, followed by microbial digestion, to ultimately ...

PLA products will take up to 6 months to degrade in commercial composting facility. In home composting facility, it may take longer time. Source: http://www.biogreenchoice.com/category_s/1866.htm

Check Green-TEC by extrudr.eu is made from lignin (wood) or perhaps Algix Dura. They are both bio degradeable. Green-TEC ist my favorite because of less warping and fast printing.

You'll find generally that mixing 40% new polyamide with 60% recycled polyamide will result in a reasonable finish and part. You will obviously want to use all new for parts requiring the best possible finish and mechanical properties, but this mixture will be very difficult to tell apart from a fully new mixture part: http://www.paramountind.com/pdfs/...