BMW Advances Recycling with 3D Printing at Additive Manufacturing Campus

The BMW Group has taken another major step toward a circular economy. At its Additive Manufacturing Campus in Oberschleißheim, southern Germany, the company has begun to recycle waste powder and end-of-life components into new 3D printing materials. The process supports the sustainable use of plastics and enables innovative recycling on a large industrial scale. Previously, used powder was often discarded, but now this material has been processed into a new filament. The filament is wound onto spools and then installed in FDM 3D printers. Additionally, the campus also produces recycled granulate for FGF (Fused Granulate Fabrication) technology, which has enabled the manufacture of large-volume components for BMW.

The recycled materials can be re-used directly in FDM printers.

From Start-Up to Serial Production

Under the leadership of Paul Victor Osswald, project manager since 2018, the recycling project has developed from a pilot phase to a full industrial scale. Starting with the “bottleUP” project, which recycles PET bottles, prototypes were successfully produced using the company’s recycled materials back in 2021. Today, up to 12 tons of waste powder is recycled annually, which reduces costs, increases quality, and improves ergonomics in the plant. As Osswald emphasizes: “It’s an exciting task to be able to constantly develop and try out new processes. The use of waste powder and disused 3D-printed components is an important building block for a functioning and efficient circular economy.“

The Additive Manufacturing Campus in Oberschleißheim serves as a center for know-how and technology transfer. It not only supplies recycled material, but also provides sophisticated printing parameters, training, and comprehensive support for production sites around the world. The campus is in close cooperation with other manufacturing plants where suitable 3D printers are validated and printing profiles are developed. This provides the manufacturers a complete package for the fast and safe introduction of recycled materials on site.