Sustainable undergraduate engineering 3-D printing Lab

Abstract

Recent proliferation of inexpensive 3D printers allowed most educational institutions to purchase and deploy them. Students at all levels now print plastic objects due to the low cost of plastic materials used. However, failed and/or unwanted prints, as well as support material, are discarded. In this work, a sustainable 3D printing laboratory is described. 3D printed objects and supporting structures are recycled by first shredding the plastic parts using a two-step process, then mixing the resulting material with virgin material, and finally re-extruding the material as filament appropriate for use in 3D printing. Students became aware that the recycling of plastic parts is a large step towards sustainable 3D printing processes.