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
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.
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.
