Rapid prototyping poses an increasing challenge to the recycling industry. 3D prints are commonly disposed of as projects evolve or prints fail. Many times when printed parts arrive at recycling centers, they are marked as trash and discarded. With the negative environmental impacts of single use plastic increasing, the need to develop a more sustainable way to repurpose discarded material is necessary. The goal of this project was to develop a compact and low-cost system that would be able to recycle 3D prints into filament without the need for grinding and drying. This goal was achieved and the feasibility of directly heating plastic parts suitable for extrusion at a constant diameter was demonstrated, however the best extruded filament in our prototype had a maximum 1.0mm diameter. The team developed a list of recommendations for the next steps in refining this process.

• 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.

Creator

• Catlett, Anna
• Willis, Casey
• Gravante, Dominick

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• 51976
• E-project-031822-094433

Keyword

• Mechanical Design
• Plastic
• Filament
• Recycling
• Phoenix
• 3D Printing

Advisor

• Sullivan, John M.

Year

• 2022

Date created

• 2022-03-18

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Mechanical Engineering

Rights statement

• In Copyright