Cirkular and cellulose based 3D printing filament
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Add North AB (reg. Moundl AB) - Add North 3D AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 1 000 000 |
| Project duration | November 2016 - April 2017 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Circular economy |
| Call | Circular flows - a call within circular biobased economy (pre-studies) |
Important results from the project
Big steps towards making 3D-printing truly sustainable has been made, which was the overall purpose of this project. This has been done through fulfilling the following goals: * A circular business model has been developed and established for recycling of residuals in 3D-printing * Methods and machinery for sorting and reproduction of residuals from 3D-printing has been identified * A 3D-printable polymer solely based on cellulose has been produced with relatively high efficiency, in a process that is deemed possible to scale up in a future development project
Expected long term effects
The results of this pre-study enables our customers to send surplus material and failed prints back to us in exchange for discounts on future purchases. This model is the first of its kind within 3D-printing and is expected to result in higher circularity throughout the industry. Customers will also be able to buy recirculated filament products from us. The circularity is complete when the materials are based on residuals from the Swedish wood industry, instead of fossil or food-grade carbohydrate sources, which was achieved at lab scale and will be scaled up in the development project.
Approach and implementation
The business model was achieved through interviews with customers and potential logistics partners. Resealable pouches was judged as the best way to facilitate the return flows, and discounts as the incentive to make it happen. Machinery, methods and a circular product was identified and developed to reproduce returned material. A trial batch of cellulose plastics was produced after some pre-studies, through a process that was run end-to-end for the first time ever for this purpose. The product got similar features as conventional equivalents. The process is suitable for scaling up.