Combining Recycling and 3D Printing: Projects for the Health of Our Planet

Today is the international day of recycling! As such, we wanted to take a look back at some recent projects that rely on additive manufacturing to help promote recycling. As you know, 3D technologies currently allow us to reduce the consumption of materials, to design parts on demand and to shorten our logistic circuits. They have an impact on our environment that is more positive than traditional methods. But that’s not all: 3D printing can also add value to our waste, whether it’s plastics or food for example. Some initiatives have indeed developed in this direction. From this waste, printing materials are created and used in the construction of objects and structures of all kinds. Lamps, buildings, furniture, shoes: here is a non-exhaustive list of parts that were made using 3D printing and recycling.

The New Raw Promotes Recycling Through 3D Printing

The Dutch association The New Raw is at the origin of several projects around 3D printing and recycling. Its goal is to transform plastic waste into everyday objects using robotic machines. You may have already heard about their Print My City initiative, which consisted in recycling all the household waste of the inhabitants of Amsterdam in order to 3D print urban furniture. In this way, residents were invited to become aware of their recycling habits and to change them if necessary. The New Raw is also behind the “Second Nature” project, which recycles fishing nets and transforms them into 3D printed shells. Here again, the objective is to raise awareness of the serious environmental problems that threaten our oceans.

Photo Credits: The New Raw

A 3D Printed Electric Tricycle

We are now going to Austria and more particularly to Vienna where the design studio EOOS led a very original project last year. It has indeed recovered the waste of various supermarkets in the capital to design a 3D printed tricycle! He recovered 70 kilos of waste that he transformed into 3D printing material. This was then deposited layer by layer to form the chassis of the three-wheeler. The tricycle would be strong enough to carry two adults.