I understand that you have spent time and money in research to achieve this product that can , in a certain way benefit the environment, but you have to understand the market laws. If the price is high, few people buy. If the price is low a lot of people will buy and the cost of production and research can be rapidly pay. Is your bet. When you say that the makers community should try to make the “next industrial revolution a sustainable one”, it’s a nonsense because it already is. PLA is a bioplastic, and this type of material is expected to make major contributions to environmental protection. Also, PLA can be shredded and extruded again, using the several home filament extruders like filabot,filastruder, EWE, etc. So, the recycling process can be done by almost every maker, with its own printing waste. The second point is the health security in using your filament. Do you have certificates that prove that it is not dangerous to bread the fumes produced by the printing process?
I’ve had an inner debate about all the environmental issues related to 3D printing, but in the end both PLA and ABS were bad for the planet, as they both generate waste. In terms of sustainability, I believe that Refil has made the best decision, even though that meant having a higher price.
If we have some plastic parts from old cars and then we produce some PLA, we will have more material produced than in the Refil case, in which they take material that has already been produced and transform it so we can re-use it. The price will be higher than regular filament, but their target won’t be those people who want the cheapest material, no matter how it was produced.
Everyone should admit that when people say that PLA is eco-friendly, sustainable and all that things, it’s because of MARKETING. The spools in which PLA come are made of ABS, and when a print fails, it will end in the trash no matter it’s ABS or PLA. Also, PLA also produces fumes, the only difference is that they don’t smell as bad as the ABS ones. That people can’t smell it doesn’t mean it isn’t killing you slowly. Anyway, with all the cars in the cities, the fumes 3D printers produce shouldn’t get so many attention.
I don’t think the Refil founders will be rich by the end of the year, but I’m really proud of them, because they give more importance to recycling rather than filling their pockets with money.
The actual 3D printing industry will not be sustainable until we change the bioplastic to recycled plastic.
So true, and I think we have to remember this is actually a start.
Just think about it that in the future our plastic waste doesn’t have to go on the waste belt, but can actually be reused in 3D printing.
Now it is dashboards, next step might be plastic bags (although that might be a couple of more steps, but you get the point).
As some would say (and I agree): Recycle or Die.
PLA is 100% recyclable, and one can do it at home with a simple filament extruder and without the need of sofisticated industrial tecnology. For that reason i hope that in the near future car dashboards and shopping bag will be made from PLA so i can recycle myself and never buy PLA filament spools again. I leave you an interesting video : - YouTube
@Nancy you are aware that the people from your video are the same people from the @?
I think the great thing here is that with Refill they take it a step further. It is not just PLA, it is a step towards any kind of plastic.
Yes i am. I have never been against them or their project. But i still think that price is high.
ok, price is a bit steep indeed, but he explained well why this is so I can understand.
I see it as a good starting point. Now it is expensive in a couple of years it might be the regular thing to do and it is cheap 
Just to address your point about the spools themselves being made out of ABS, we’ve come out with a spool that is made from PLA and agricultural waste products, namely flax shive. We call it the Eco-Spool. I think the big deal is that bio-plastics are renewable and will eventually degrade, versus petroleum-based plastics.
Hi Jeroen,
We’re making small (technical) changes to the website, so that’s why it could be offline for a very short period of time.
It should be working at the moment, let me know if this is not the case. You can also contact us directly via info@refil.nl
Best,
Casper
Refil
Oke, ik dacht al dat dit superproject tenonder was gegaan.
Hehe, absolutely not. It’s alive and kicking. We’re expanding our reseller channels, researching new materials/colours and we’re even nominated for a sustainability price from the Plastic Soup Foundation.
