R3direct on Making 3D Printed Street Furniture Using Recycled Materials

Sustainability and ecological issues are at the forefront of society today, in all fields. Many companies are taking this issue seriously, exploiting the advantages and benefits of 3D printing to invent materials, products and production processes that have a minimal impact on the environment. R3direct is one of them; this Italian start-up uses large-format 3D printing to make parts out of materials made from recycled waste. Its projects have been recognized and supported by the public administration, as well as by renowned private initiatives in the fields of art and architecture. To learn more, we interviewed its co-founder Stefano Giovacchini!

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

Hi! My name is Stefano Giovacchini, I am a designer and co-founder of r3direct, a company experimenting with the use of recycled and sustainable materials for large format 3D printing. I have also “embraced” the circular economy for years, and I teach “Design for the Circular Economy” at the School of Sustainability in Milan. At r3direct I am particularly involved in form and use research for new materials, from circular and sustainable supply chains. I discovered 3D printing as a lover of open source technologies and free software: I was attending the LUG (Linux User Group) in my city, Lucca, and decided with a friend of mine to buy one of the very first kits of the Rep Rap project. It was a real adventure to get to the first print, but it was an experience I still remember with great pleasure. Thanks to 3D printing, I had the opportunity to invent a new job. Currently, we make products and services that would not exist without 3D printers.

3DN: How did r3direct come about? What’s your mission?

R3direct was born thanks to a call for new circular economy ideas issued by the municipality of Capannori (LU) (a famous “recycling municipality” and home of zero waste), in which I participated with what later became my partners, Cristiano Cavani and Marco Paganucci, with the idea of recovering plastic from separate waste collection and creating sustainable products for citizens with it. They liked the idea and we won the tender. After a year we started a research and development relationship with Revet S.p.A., a company that separates multimaterial waste from 90 percent of Tuscany, for the use of recycled plastic granules in large-format 3D printing. To date, we are still partnering with Revet on various projects.