3D Printing

Monday, 30 March 2020 18:15

3D Printing for Circular Economy

When you think about 3D printing it is mostly associated with manufacturing objects and prototypes made out of plastics and filaments. Although there are other more sustainable and more eco-friendly choices, these are not on people´s top of mind for 3D printing.

3D printing is one of the fastest growing markets in the past few years, with a 25% increase each year. Since it is a new field of study for many people and many things are experimental, it gives a lot of room for innovation and creation.

3D printing is an example of how circular economy concepts can be applied, as it becomes the first self-sustaining/zero waste technology. Just to be on the same page, circular economy is an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources. In this kind of economy, materials are maintained in a close loop, when the customer is done with a product, instead of discarding it, the product serves a new purpose. You don´t through it away, the product is recovered and its embedded materials become the base of the next round of products, a regeneration process.


Circular economy diagram

Circular economy diagram.


According to the report What a Waste 2.0: “the world is on a trajectory where waste generation will drastically outpace population growth by more than double by 2050. Although we are seeing improvements and innovations in solid waste management globally, it is a complex issue and one that we need to take urgent action on. Solid waste management affects everyone; however, those most affected by the negative impacts of poorly managed waste are largely society’s most vulnerable—losing their lives and homes from landslides of waste dumps, working in unsafe waste-picking conditions, and suffering profound health repercussions.

The world generates 2.01 billion tones of municipal solid waste annually, with at least 33 percent of that—extremely conservatively—not managed in an environmentally safe manner. Worldwide, waste generated per person per day averages 0.74 kilogram but ranges widely, from 0.11 to 4.54 kilograms. Though they only account for 16 percent of the world’s population, high-income countries generate about 34 percent, or 683 million tones, of the world’s waste“.


european-landfill

Solid waste. Photo courtesy of new-mine.eu.


So with this in mind, it is refreshing to see many companies, designers, engineers, technicians and many more, striving for success to develop new sustainable and greener alternatives when using 3D printing.

With this in mind, I would like to use “Feel the Peel” project as an example of the use of 3D printing as circular economy:

“Feel the Peel”

Eni (an energy company engaged in the exploration, production, refining and sale of oil, gas, electricity and chemicals) and Carlo Ratti Associati (an innovation and design firm that investigates the impact of digital technologies on architecture, planning and design) teamed up t create “Feel the Peel”. This is a 3.1-meter prototype of an experimental orange juice bar using circular economy.


carlo-ratti-bioplastic-cups-orange-peels-circular-economy-designboom

Feel the Peel orange juice bar. Photo courtesy of www.designboom.com.


How does it work?

The design of the bar has a circular dome at the top, filled with 1,500 oranges, when an order is placed the oranges slide down into the squeezer and here they are cut in half and juiced.


carlo-ratti-bioplastic-cups-orange-peels-circular-economy-designboom

Circular dome with 1,500 oranges. Photo courtesy of www.aasarchitecture.com.


The leftover peels are deposited in a lower receptacle, where they dry and are later milled to make “orange dust”. These are mixed with polylactic acid (PLA) derived form plant sugars; it is heated and melted to form a filament, which is fed through a 3D printer attached to the machine.


3D-circular-orange-bar

At the bottom you can see the peels in the receptacle ready to be turned into filament. Photo courtesy of www.aasarchitecture.com.


This is used to print bioplastic cups on the spot, so you can drink in them the freshly squeezed orange juice. These cups can be later recycled, with the material continually broken down and remade in the further cups.


bioplastic-cups

These are the newly 3D printed cups. Photo courtesy of www.aasarchitecture.com.


"The principle of circularity is a must for today's objects," said founder Carlo Ratti. "Working with Eni, we tried to show circularity in a very tangible way, by developing a machine that helps us to understand how oranges can be used well beyond their juice. The next iterations of Feel the Peel might include new functions, such as printing fabric for clothing from orange peel.”

“Feel the Peel” is an example of innovative technology put to good use, creating a more sustainable and green product, from something as simple as ordering a cup of orange juice.

The most important thing we should all get out of this, is the fact that you can make a huge change in the environmental impact by making simple changes and thinking outside the box.


feel-the-peel

Here you can see the Fell the Peel, orange juice bar running. Photo courtesy of www.aasarchitecture.com.




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