SORT’CHA PLASTICS
3D printing is a style of additive manufacturing (AM) that answers the demand for more precise industrial production methods. As opposed to subtractive manufacturing, where something is created by removing materials, AM allows you to start from zero, depositing material layer by layer.
This allows people to customize their projects with incredible detail and accuracy; plastic filaments known as polymers are melted down and pushed through an extruder to form any design no matter how small or ornate (Bandyopadhyay, et al., 2020).
This takes away the need for creators to compromise on the features of their design to fit the constraints of standardized equipment and moulds, and therefore slims down the overall production process as a whole. Intermediaries are no longer necessary; if there’s not already something out there to build it, the printers can print it.
The specific type of polymer used varies from project to project, with the most common one being polyphthalamide (PPA). This polymer in particular is favoured for it’s durability, light-weight, and well, plasticity under certain temperatures (Hunt, et al., 2015). Different polymers vary in chemical properties which make some more resilient to changes in temperature or mechanical stress than others. As a result, it is always in the best interest of the producer to properly label and sort these polymers by type when using them as materials in different forms of industrial production.
The importance of doing so is made salient by organizations like the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) who’ve devised a set of chemical standards that help regulate the use, distribution, and subsequent disposal of polymers by commercial industries (2016). These standards aim to keep certain polymers from being used in conjunction with others (which could potentially compromise the integrity of both’s structure), as well as to hold industries accountable for their use of materials that can and at times can't be recycled.
It is a corporation’s responsibility to make sure that recyclable material is properly identified so as to increase its chances of being sorted properly and later optimized as new material. An industry’s failure to adhere to the codes and conventions of these standards may result in fines or even the product getting pulled from the market entirely. The incentive to cultivate an awareness for the materials they use and what later comes of them then is clear.
Incentives can be a little harder to find among printing stations/sites of industrial production of a smaller scale. Innovations in 3D printing continue to blur the line between consumer and producer, and thus make it harder to regulate how certain polymers are able to pass through the cycles of production and be properly disposed of.
Lowering the barriers to production encourages students and hobbyists alike to take on a more active role in the production process. But at the same time, the decentering and thus deregulation of plastic production puts the onus on the individual to properly label and dispose of the materials they use.
Scrap material is an inevitable part of the creative process; whether you’re an artist, engineer, or general hobbyist, excess polymer filament starts to accumulate. Excess pieces get clipped from final products, failed prototypes get tossed, and old projects get scrapped to make room for new ones. Needless to say, the potential that polymers have to take on a new life transcend far beyond the limits of a final project.
A significant pillar in sustainability is to create as circular a model of production as possible; one that’s able to sustain itself by reoptimizing any supplementary output as new input.
Excess polymer filament then is not simply just scrap material, but what could possibly form the start of something new. Optimizing the flow of polymer filament through the line of production and the subsequent process of sorting and recycling them then requires that they be properly (and consistently) identified.
The efficiency with which 3D printing allows us to bring our ideas to life should not overshadow the process of learning how to hold ourselves accountable for the things we bring into being. Considering sustainability as part of the necessary criteria for design works to close the conceptual gap between our creations and the external world by situating them in a broader context -- one that goes beyond the scope of any final project.
Turning a blind eye is no longer an option; we need to start cultivating an awareness for the agency we have as people with the means to create and the responsibility that comes with.
References
“ASTM Chemical Standards: Supporting Science, Innovation ...” Https://Www.astm.org/About, 2016, www.astm.org/ABOUT/images/chemical_sectorOverview.pdf.
Bandyopadhyay, Amit, et al. “2 Additive Manufacturing of Polymers.” Additive Manufacturing, 2020, pp. 22–30., doi:10.1515/9781501518782-002.
Hunt, Emily J., et al. “Polymer Recycling Codes for Distributed Manufacturing with 3-D Printers.” Resources, Conservation and Recycling, vol. 97, 2 Mar. 2015, pp. 24–30., doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2015.02.004.
Soares, M. M., & Rebelo, F. (Eds.). (2016). Ergonomics in design : methods & techniques (Ser. Human factors and ergonomics series). CRC Press.
