Stumbled on a stat about 3D printer waste that blew my mind

I was reading through a maker forum last night and found out that a single failed PLA print can take over 80 years to break down in a landfill. That hit me hard because I trashed probably 4 or 5 benchy boats just last month without thinking. I always figured PLA was biodegradable since it's corn based, but apparently it needs industrial composting conditions to actually rot. Now I'm looking into recycling places near Portland that take failed prints and turn them into filament. Has anyone else found a decent way to deal with their print waste?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamieburns13d ago

Oh man, my buddy told me he just hoards his failed prints in a giant box now.

blaked7913d ago

Tell him to get a scrap bucket and sort the plastic by type. PLA and PETG don't mix when you try to recycle them later. I keep a bin next to my printer and toss everything in there, then once a month I run it through a shredder and melt it down into new filament. Saves me about 20 bucks per spool. Way better than a giant box taking up closet space.