I have at least 2 boxes of failed prints, prototypes etc. I hate to just throw them in the trash to fill up a landfill somewhere. Most of it is PLA with a little PETG & TPU thrown in. What are others doing with their scrap?
Unfortunately, there aren’t many options at this time. Recycling the plastic would seem the ideal solution, but it’s not that simple. You may have noticed that the small amount of recycled PDM plastic available is often more expensive than non-recycled, which of course doesn’t make it very appealing.
So, I’ve come to the regrettable decision that the landfill will have to be it, at least for now. If it’s any consolation, industrial processes (molded part for example) waste way, way more plastic than all the consumer 3D printers combined.
Try composting the PLA parts, if you can. I’ve been meaning to try this recommendation, but it can take a year to degrade. Making new filament is the only other alternative that I’ve which seems viable.
Cheers
PETG should be very recyclable, since it’s basically a modified version of PET, the plastic that’s the [NODE=“1”]Home[/NODE] in the recycle triangle [IMG2=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“height”:“36”,“width”:“36”,“src”:“https://th.bing.com/th?q=Recycle+Triangle+with+1&w=120&h=120&c=1&rs=1&qlt=90&cb=1&dpr=2&pid=InlineBlock&mkt=en-CA&cc=CA&setlang=en&adlt=moderate&t=1&mw=247”}[/IMG2]. The issue, as I see it, is getting people to properly separate and sort their failed prints, plus a way to get that plastic to a recycling depot. That said, PETG is somewhat different from PET in that it has slightly higher glass and melting temperatures. Unfortunately, this difference means it’s not possible to just mix PETG waste with plastic water bottles and such.
Maybe I’ll try burying some in the garden and see what it looks like in a year for so. Interesting experiment.
It likely would work best if the PLA was broken down into small pieces.
PLA is easy to put in a blender to remelt but as far as being biodegradable Makers Muse says it is not. PLA - 3D Printing's Biggest Lie. - YouTube
I have ordered filament from this company, but have never recycled with them. https://fusionfilaments.com/pages/recycling-initiative
@LukeDuke thanks I’ll give that a try and see how expensive it will be to send some scraps to Fusion