Reducing plastic waste with 3D printing Thursday, 09 November 2017

Article submitted by Deakin University, Engineers Australia’s Victoria Division Principal Partner.

Plastics have become a ubiquitous part of our everyday life due to their advantageous material properties and ease of manufacturing, which has seen their use in everything from food packaging, consumer electronics to musical instruments. This intensive use of plastics is now leading to one of the biggest challenges of modern times; how we manage, dispose of and recycle this material.

With respect to the environment, plastics are having a profoundly negative impact. On land there are escalating volumes destined for landfill, and more alarming, it is now predicted that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish! Beyond the environmental challenges, recyclable plastics are typically transported overseas for final reprocessing. Such practices are inherently unsustainable in the long-term and ideally a more localised solution would be more desirable.

Deakin University’s School of Engineering has been addressing these recycling challenges, leveraging the unique facets of renewable technology, materials science and 3D printing to realise a complete supply chain from reclaiming of the waste plastic to the final re-manufacturing into functional parts.

The concept, coined EcoPrinting by project lead Dr Mazher Mohammed has seen researchers use a polymer melt extrusion process to reform recyclable plastics into 3D printer filaments. The team are currently testing the mechanical degradation of the various polymers when using 100% recycled plastics and composites containing virgin and plastic blends. So far results have been very promising, demonstrating the efficacy of the process and printability of the resulting filaments into functional mechanical parts, such as water pipe connectors.

To add to the sustainability credentials of the project, the team have developed mechanisms to operate the equipment required for this process using portable renewable energy generation. This critically allows the system to be utilised in remote, off the grid scenarios as an effective portable ‘maker space’.

The team are now currently engaged with the aid agency, Plan International to use the technology as a novel means of aid delivery, by which waste plastics that are scattered across developing nations can be used as the raw materials to produce critical components for the rejuvenation of water infrastructure. A trial of the first prototype is scheduled for early 2018 in the Solomon Islands.

Ultimately, the potential of the project has profound implications to create a more sustainable means of plastic recycling and manufacturing, which could be employed on both a large scale and at grass roots level. Additionally, the technology could realise a new paradigm in aid delivery, which not only provides targeted solutions to those in need, but longer term could empower such communities to become more self-sufficient and productive, effectively turning trash into treasure.

Author: Dr Mazher Mohammed, Research Fellow (Advanced Design – Engineering), Deakin University.
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