Repurposing PLA into 3D Printing Filament

Knight, Ethan; Cumming, Connor; Murrison, Adam; Levin, Collin

Student Work

Repurposing PLA into 3D Printing Filament

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With the rise in 3D printing in various stages of the design process, through rapid prototyping and even market ready products, it is important to consider how failed prints and iterations can be recycled. 3D printing has become an essential part of students' academic and personal projects at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and the Innovation Studio’s Makerspace and Prototyping Lab offering the benefits of quick prototyping, and visual learning. Despite this widespread use, the Makerspace, and virtually all other facilities, do not offer any means of recycling the plastic waste generated from failed prints, the support material often required in Additive Manufacturing, and old prototypes. With the widespread movement surrounding plastic recycling being seen today, the goal of this project was to develop a small footprint system capable of recycling PLA scrap into filament capable of being printed again. This innovative project bypasses the traditional shredding, washing, and drying stages of most filament recycling systems, while also incorporating multiple heat zones to minimize material degradation. The team also developed recommendations for future improvements in the system presented, that revolved around characterizing parts produced from filament from this system, and methods to increase the adjustability and adaptability in order to easily change without user input.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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