I am looking for ways to responsibly dispose PLA. At our makerspace we have tens of kilograms of it from failed prints and supports and we just keep it in a box
Any recycling center with a composter can break down PLA. You can make life easier for them by shredding the prints in a blender, but it's not necessary. You can also get an electric composter and do it yourself!
If you can't recycle it into filament, the simplest way it to melt it into blocks in an oven and give it to the CNC guys to practice on. In block form it also wont find its way into the rivers and oceans, and wont degrade in landfill releasing all its nasty CO2. Lock that carbon into the ground!
@@IanSlothieRolfe yup this is the easiest way to make it useful. I save up mine and use flat grill press to turn it into sheet material I can use in other projects.
Having worked with some of the people behind fishy filament and having used some, I can 100% recommend it. Like all nylon filament it's required to dry it before using but if it's dry it works great!
PolyTerra prints beautifully, I can vouch. I didn't even realize my extruder wasn't calibrated correctly until I switched from it to eSun. (Though I would have had better top surface results, the sides were perfect.)
Zack, BRAVO! As someone whom prints crap all the time, thank you for taking the time and effort to compile conscious alternatives that everyone can consider. Though I knew about and use a few of these filaments, it was awesome to learn something new and practical. Cheers!
I have to send this to my filament dealer to see if they start stocking some of these. Hopefully between this video, Makers Muse's video and your disdain for baby groots, we can lower the impact of 3D printing on the environment
Thank you so much for your videos. I love them so much! Everyday I hear RU-vidrs say that they are going crazy from all the awful posts, that’s not something that should be happening. We who are watching videos need to show support and good vibes (and occasionally constructive feedback, but with kindness!). Hope you have a great day.
this is AWESOME, I watched the 3d printing scene for ages wanting to get in on it but not wanting to make a bunch of plastic spaghetti nests. I'm thrilled there are such great options out there now, thanks for showing them off!
Minor correction: PETG isn't made by reacting PET with ethylene glycol. PET is made by polymerisation of ethylene glycol, while PETG is made by substituting other substances for some of the glycol. "Glycol-modified" means taking it out, not putting it in. Great video, though. I've got several rolls of recycled PET and one of NonOilen.
I want to get my name read out at the end of one of these videos. One of these days, I’m going to throw $20 in the hat, maybe just for a month. I think Zacks work is genuinely worth more though. In truth, I don’t always find the videos directly applicable to my interests, but I always enjoy them and they are always very informative.
I like how Americans found a cool solution that would never work here in Germany because if I cut and melt a bottle I get a bit of filament, but if I bring it back to the store for recycling I get 25 cents
I ran greengate into filament at a previous employer. It was really good stuff, but it was like 2 cents cheaper per pound to get virgin PETG, so they decided to go that route instead.
I just got a 3D printer (both a resin and FDM) for Black Friday and am waiting for them to be delivered; I'm definitely going to be using these filaments, instead. Thanks for the info!! ♡♡♡
An awesome and informative yet entertaining video, yet I spent longer than the video going "squirrel!!!" And chasing down rabbit holes learning that Hellmann's is called Best Foods west of the Rockies... I both hate and love my weird brain and what it latches into. It helps sometimes and is a complete distraction others. 🤣
Ideally, I rather my scrap in a Benchy than falling off a 300,000 ton hauler headed over seas to a “recycling facility”. Where can I get one of those kits and for how much?
Great video! I work in the 3D printing business since a short while and the environment has always been on my mind. Will use this info to save more fish :D
Zack, great informative and funny video. Which filament do you suggest that won't require a heated bed after the first layer? I'm trying to save on electricity usage.
That PETBOT thing is too cool I want it Would it work with non-green bottle materials, like the blue Evian bottles? Evian bottles are already made of recycled plastic in the first place, and I drink their water frequently, so being able to reuse that would be awesome!
Me and my girlfriend LOVE this. I also hope you find qualified people to help you test your keyboard I filled out and completed that form but I do not expect a response XXDDX. Keep the quality content up!!!
Filament2print is a fantastic place to shop for new types, I had a shopping cart filled with 16 different bioplastics alone from Hemp to coffee to Oyster to flax PLA
Zack I’m not one to leave comments often but I really enjoy your channels and videos. Keep it up! It’s almost like I’m watching my twin make videos with some of the things you say lol
I think a good idea could be a handful of very-common single types and groups/blocks of cross-compatible thermoplastics, and make a mandatory additive be a cheap, low hazard tracer material unique to each of them. A tracer detectable by sensors, maybe radiological, laser etc. And that way finally make 3d printing, extrusion and injection molding plastic product waste be high speed high volume machine sortable. And thereby making much higher degree of plastics recycling both economically and practically feasible.
Pure PET is actually awesome material that prints better than PETG - no blobbing, sticking to nozzle, layer adhesion difficulty, or creep in the printed parts. It just needs really high temperatures cheap printers with PTFE lined hotends can't safely reach, as you saw with the recycled bottles. You can get it commercially (albeit sadly not recycled source) in the US as "HTPET" from Fusion Filaments.
Zack. Great 👍 video. I think like to know more about how to take containers 🫙 I put in the recycling bin every week. This would include,PETE, HDPE(yes HDPE), PVC, PP. I would like to set up an extruder to go trash to treasure and cut out the middle man. Thank you
Since this video, ive now started using poly terra as my main filament, most filament is about £20 over here and poly terra is £17 so I'm happy to pay for it. The only advisory I give is I increase my extrusion rate by 10%, or I was having under extrusion on my voron 0
2:38 PolyTerra almost cheaper then micro center. Polymaker makes some of the filament for micro center based on there own filament. PolyTerra = Lite PLA, PolyMax = Tough PLA, and Pro PLA which a special pla ment for speed printing only made for micro center
I've been looking into NonOilen, and read some mixed reviews on Reddit - people seem to have problems with warping... do you have recommended settings, and did you encounter any warping, and if so what did you change/do to solve it? Thanks. I'm determined to ONLY use either recycled or properly biodegradable filaments if at all possible... this helps A LOT.
