Guides

#3DStartup: POOLP Gives New Value to Plastic Waste Thanks to 3D Printing

We start the year 2023 with a subject that is more relevant than ever in today’s society, namely our environmental impact and the preservation of our planet. It is no secret that additive manufacturing is one of the ways to…

POOLP
3Dnatives

We start the year 2023 with a subject that is more relevant than ever in today’s society, namely our environmental impact and the preservation of our planet. It is no secret that additive manufacturing is one of the ways to reduce the amount of waste produced and our carbon footprint, while offering unique, personalized and complex objects. Or at least, this is the reasoning behind the French startup POOLP, which was founded after the health crisis. It has developed a micro-factory that integrates a large 3D printing unit that can transform our plastic waste into products with high social, environmental and aesthetic value. After winning the 3D Print Paris 2022 Startup Contest, the co-founders, Lorenzo Fauvette and Thomas Sicouri, answered our questions.

3DN: Could you introduce yourself and your connection to 3D printing?

Lorenzo & Thomas: We are two architects driven by a true ecological conscience and share a passion for new technologies applied to architecture, art and design. Indeed, we are convinced that certain technologies can greatly improve the environmental performance of our manufacturing and consumption patterns. We both have a master’s degree in algorithmic design and digital manufacturing and robotics for the construction industry, obtained at the École Nationale de Ponts et Chaussées (ENPC). We were using 3D printing as a prototyping tool and realized that by taking a leap of scale, 3D printing had a disruptive potential in many fields.

Lorenzo is one of the founders of POOLP: he presented the startup at the 3D Print Paris 2022 Startup Contest (photo credits: 3D Print)

3DN: How did POOLP come about?

Lorenzo & Thomas: POOLP was born after our master at ENPC. We both wanted to start a business and we became aware of the great potential of XL 3D printing in the field of art and architecture. In addition to a new approach to design and manufacturing, we chose to use the flexibility and compactness of 3D printing to make it a tool for valorizing plastics.