Recycle Plastic Bottles Into 3D Printer Filament

Plastic consumption has grown at a tremendous rate over the past two decades as plastics now play an important role in all aspects of modern lifestyle. Plastics are used in the manufacture of numerous products such as protective packaging, lightweight and safety components in cars, mobile phones, insulation materials in buildings, domestic appliances, furniture items, medical devices etc.

Figure 1: Plastic

Because plastic does not decompose biologically, the amount of plastic waste in our surroundings is steadily increasing. More than 90% of the articles found on the sea beaches contain plastic. Plastic waste is often the most objectionable kind of litter and will be visible for months in landfill sites without degrading.

Figure 2: Plastic.

Dangers of Plastic Bottled Water

Recent years have seen an increase in awareness regarding the negative impact plastic water bottles have on the environment. Unfortunately, while most people know that plastic water bottles are bad for the environment, this awareness has not resulted in a significant drop in the use of disposable water bottles. In fact, their use is still on the increase with Americans using an average of 50 billion plastic water bottles a year; and while recycling is more accessible than ever, 90% of plastic water bottles are not recycled after use, meaning that billions of plastic bottles are entering our landfills, and even our oceans, every year. In fact, so much plastic waste makes it into our oceans that it is estimated that over a million marine animals are killed by plastic waste each year, often due to accidental plastic ingestion.

However, while the environmental effects of disposable water bottles alone should be enough to make us consider purchasing a reusable water bottle and a home water filter, there are also other benefits to be gained by ditching plastic water bottles. While the environmental impact of plastic bottles gets most of the attention, there are also other reasons why you should consider switching to a reusable water bottle. Here is an overview of just a few of the other reasons to go reusable, including some lesser-known dangers of drinking bottled water.

process of Recycle Plastic Bottles Into 3D Printer Filament

Cutting the tape and extrusion happens in two completely separated processes on the same machine. A PET bottle is prepared by cutting off the bottom, and the open rim is pushed between a pair of bearings, where a cutter slices the bottle into one long strip, as a driven spool rolls it up. The spool of tape is then moved to the second stage of the machine, which pulls the tape through a hot end very similar to that on a 3D printer. While most conventional extruders push the plastic through a nozzle with a screw, the Pet Bot only heats up the tape to slightly above its glass transition temperature, which allows the driven spool to slowly pull it through the nozzle without breaking. A fan cools the filament just before it goes onto the spool. The same stepper motor is used for both stages of the process.

We like the simplicity of this machine compared to a conventional screw extruder, but it’s not without trade-offs. Firstly is the limitation of the filament length by the material in a single bottle. Getting longer lengths would involve fusing the tape after cutting, or the filament after extrusion, which is not as simple as it might seem. The process would likely be limited to large soda bottle with smooth exterior surfaces to allow the thickness and width of the tape to be as consistent as possible. We are curious to see the consistency of the filaments shape and diameter, and how sensitive it is to variations in the thickness and width of the tape.

Figure 3: plastic bottle inlet

Figure 4: filament outlet.

Dimensions and Costs

When designing the most important step is to estimate the initial dimension that can be done for the design. After that the cost which is also important. Design engineers focus on performance, appearance, and reliability. All-important over cost when making design decisions. But if the idea is expensive and it high costly for the market, engineers find solutions by redesigning and find alternative designs. Figure (9) shows initial dimensions for the machine which is the width is .5 meter and the length is .5 meter. The range of the cost can change depending on the components used and materials. But it approximately between 150 KD to 250 KD.