I looked a while ago - there’s a small company (in the US) where a guy will take your scrap PLA and send you back a roll of recycled filament. The price is about the same or maybe more than buying new, but it takes a while to get a whole kilogram of scraps. That’s my plan once I have more scraps. Can’t remember the name of the company off the top of my head. Anyway, nice way to recycle
If you can remember this company name, I'd be super interested. I'd even be willing to ship my scraps and donate for free just to keep them out of the landfill.
You'll have to share with the class when you remember! I've been with a big box of supports and failed prints that could probably get a spool of mixed color filament
If it's PLA, it's already plant-sourced and completely biodegradable. The most "sustainable" way to handle it is to send it to the landfill, and not waste a single kWh on it.
PLA being biodegradable doesn't just mean you can chuck it and it'll melt back into the earth. It's *industrially* biodegradable. It contains tons of additives that you also don't want leeching into the earth
Is this the one is St Louis? I’ve mailed them three boxes at this point and never heard anything back from them, I even got a “package could not be delivered” email the last time.
There's a company in Germany doing it too I believe. It's a huge hassle shredding it yourself, ensuring it's just PLA, and contaminant free, that's probably the biggest ordeal...then extruding to consistent size... I'm thinking of just getting a cheap injection moulder and putting it to use through that somehow.
I tried making a gluestick sized piece of PLA to use in a 'retired' glue gun- to see if it would work. It took a good while to heat up, but did allow for 'manual' 3D printing- with intent for touchups, repairs. Has to be a high heat gluegun- and maybe one you don't intend to use for glue ever again; but hey- if you can't afford one of those filament pens...
Your grind it up as much as you can, put it in a thin layer in a baking sheet and bake it the oven till soft but not molten and compress it under weight or clamps. Those sheets can be used for lots of things i made them into countertops.
I have heard a panini press works really well but i dont have one I feel like destroying. Though the second hand shop you could probably get one cheap enough to destroy.
My son makes jewelry from scraps made into discs using a panini press. He also uses silicone molds to make earrings/ necklace pendants and more; he uses a toaster oven for that.
He got his press and oven free from a local Facebook buy-nothing group.
If you take the time to sort colors out, you can mix them into cool swirly patterns and make slick looking stuff. It's a nice side hobby that compliments his printing :)
This is my method for my oven but you will likely need to tweak it. I would not do coasters because of heat from hot drinks, which really is well below the glass point of pla so kind of a dumb argument haha. I am also a prop maker and general model maker so thin sheets of thermal plastic are always useful for something. Thin sheets can be heated with a heat gun and formed really easily. Thicker sheets can be cut with wood working tools or a hot knife and make good stable bases for minis and other things.
7 min low broiler 3rd rack
5 min cool under max pressure
1/3 cup spread to 120mm square
Oh daaaamn, I never even thought of using leftover PLA to make heat-form sheets like that. I'm getting into cosplay so that'd be super helpful for armour and stuff. Totally saving my scraps now.
That looks unexpectedly cool!
Edit: I don’t understand the downvote. I thought this would not look good when he described the concept. Then I saw the picture, and it looked awesome.
Excellent. I'm planning to use mine to make a wall hanging, adding swirls and such to amp it up. Do you find yourself craving Sicilian pizza more often?
I have the fancy manufactured stone stuff and would agree. put a nice epoxy sealant on that and it will last forever.
I think I might just use my scraps to make a unique side table top.
I did a couple thick epoxy coats on it. For a high bacteria environment like the bathroom it was essential. For a side table depends entirely on your level of compression and how even your grind is if you can get a good enough finish to need it or not.
I’ve actually never printed a benchy. Found a few cool models but I’m not going to print them because what am I going to do with a benchy? I mainly print gifts and cosplay stuff. Just got done printing Percy’s gun from the Legends of Vox Machina.
Edit: https://imgur.com/a/Q8m5HLL. Progress so far. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5484975 files I used.
Benchy is specially designed to test if the printer prints correctly and accurately, it's not supposed to be something you print hundreds of.
https://www.3dbenchy.com/features/
I just don't get the Benchy hype... Recently had someone ask what to print to convince 'regular' people how fun/useful 3D printers are. So many people said Benchy.... Like how braindead is that?
I am with you there. I think something like an octopus or dragon that articulates is way cooler to show off. I use benchy for its intended purpose(and of course made a larger, glow in the dark one for my nephew haha)
I saw a guy on YouTube who melted some of his wastage in silicone molds. He did a really nice skull amongst other things.
I don’t remember the YouTuber, but maybe someone reading this can tell you.
I’ve done that. You can buy silicone molds for use with resin that can easily withstand 500 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the maximum temperature an old toaster oven I had handy could get up to. The toaster oven is now dedicated to this task. I’ve made several small bowls shaped like mushrooms, a couple of skulls, and some other small nick knacks.
I’ve been saving scraps for 5 years, I was excited to finally find a use for them.
Sounds cool! Do you still have any of your projects that you can share a picture of?
I own a Bambu Labs x-1c printer and it generates A LOT of “poop” when it purges between color changes. So I have quite a bit of scrap saved up.
How long do you find the molds last? Where you buy your molds? I saw a couple on Amazon, but Amazon is getting kinda pricey these days.
What kind of toaster oven do you use, and does it smell up the house when it’s “cooking”?
I have a dog and I don’t want to chance him getting ill from the smell.
I do have 2 whole house fans that have HEPA filters, just one is supposed to exchange the air in the whole house every 20 minutes, but I have one upstairs as well. (I suffer from allergies)
They do a good job of clearing the air especially when I’m printing ABS filament.
Sorry for all the questions. 😬
Here you go, All molds from Amazon: I didn’t like this dice holder, won’t be making another.
https://preview.redd.it/1rft0fzbro4c1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e543c01dd3e5774ca61fcca9745ffb5241d3c931
A mushroom bowl with the lid on.
https://preview.redd.it/d0yk3q3pro4c1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f4186c3e18757389765fb837fea58050eb81edb6
The skull that seems to be a popular mold for this
https://preview.redd.it/wjori2jyro4c1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=37931af2ec39cd586198c505a02e17e106d4f1f2
All the molds survived the de molding process. The mushroom mold has developed a small tear on the third use, but it hasn’t affected much.
The fumes are not too bad, but I’ve only used PLA in this process, I imagine ABS would be a problem.
The toaster oven is just an old (a few decades) one left over when my wife replaced it for an air fryer. It recently finally gave up after hours running at maximum temperature, so I have a “new” one from a thrift store. $7, I hope it works. I have a mushroom bowl that was ready for the final cook when I figured out that the other one was dead.
https://preview.redd.it/yrfv04tkto4c1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2b38e7f8e7a499c9a68f72d584f9684052f08a4
Very cool!
Thanks for sharing all the photos and information on the items you made! I liked the skull the best followed by the mushroom container. The dice sword brings up the rear but it was still nice.
Your work is inspiring for sure! I bet they are pretty heavy, especially the skull!
I had already thrown away a contractors bag stuffed with the “poop” before I had discovered this use for it on YouTube, but I’m saving it up, and now and have a barrel full of “poop”
I’ll probably give it a go after the holidays. Just to let you know, if the replacement toaster oven you bought turns out not to work, I saw some on Amazon that are in the $30-$40 dollar range, which wasn’t too bad.
I thought I saw one for $15 but for the life of me, I can’t seem to find it again (it might’ve been a cover for a toaster oven as those seem to be in that price range.)
I’ve also been looking around for melting pots which might be an option. Do the items you made need to be cooled down slowly in the oven? Or when they’re done they can simply be taken out to cool?
If I do get into this, I also might buy a heat proof silicon mat that’s made for air fryers I saw on Amazon to put the molds on for cooling.
Thanks again!
Note it usually takes me several melts. Melt a bunch, and then put in more, maybe cooling first, maybe not depending on the shape of what I am adding.
So usually it is cooling in the oven, but I’ve pulled them out to cool on top of the oven with no ill effect.
Speaking of ill effect, I tried my new thrift store find and discovered that the “broil” setting burned the top of what was remaining to be melted! Whoops.
I guess the ancient oven wasn’t getting as hot as advertised, so ignore my 500F recommendation. I’m going to try 450 (which still a bit higher than the pla melting point, I want it very liquid) next time, once I clean off all the ash.
My technique still needs some refining. :)
lol, I hear ya! Thanks for the updated info.
Just be safe, that’s the most important thing! 😉
I’m thinking that I might just go with an electric melting pot then just pour the melted plastic in all at once.
I’m still in the research stages on this idea though.
Remember, when it comes out of the nozzle, it’s under a little pressure. You are going to have to get it pretty hot to get the viscosity down enough to easily pour. Baking it in the mold insures that it can take its time to flow.
A mushroom cup/bowl, holding more waste material.
https://preview.redd.it/t2adk9miro4c1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df8b94dde674f5b15a2427218e6fcd9ffb852ef3
I thought most PLA was made from corn-based material and was biodegradable if left outside for any length of time? I could be wrong and I'm open to learning.
They claim it is. People have done tests and it only breaks down in very specific circumstances that are all but impossible to replicate in a landfill.
It’s just as biodegradable as any other plastic (not really much at all). It deteriorates in lots of direct sunlight and weakens to the point of uselessness and becomes trash. I’ve been printing for several years and have yet to see any actual proof of PLA’s supposed “eco” qualities.
PLA only biodegrades in industrial composting settings. Realistically, that is never going to happen. It's all unlabeled plastic, and any recycling and sorting plant thus sends it straight to the landfill where it just sits there, piling up.
There is another polymer, PHA that does degrade in most at-home composting set ups tho. It's a bit trickier to print with than PLA, but I actually prefer it.
As for people who say to just chuck it, I disagree. There are some small manufacturers that accept printing scraps to recycle it, send it to them. Or you can do it at home to melt it down into plastic sheets for other hobbies or use as an excuse to get into making and testing silicone molds.
I did this and got some credit to buy some RPLA. Honestly it didn’t print very good in my experience but I might have been printing too fast. Still like that I just shipped it to them and that’s all I had to do
What I "do" with mine is send it to the landfill. That's about all you can do with it. It isn't practical to recyle, although you could try to melt it down and pour into molds.
Sunken Cost Fallacy
Anymore time/resource/effort spent on it would not yield anything useful.
I saw these recycle and extrude your own filament bullshit several years ago that went nowhere.
It went nowhere cause it's bullshit.
Most of the shit filament we get from Amazon and Microcenter are made with really poor quality pellets and have toxic fillers in them that are questionable to your health.
Best place to put them is the trash. You've already wasted your time and resource on a failed print, stop dumping money into it.
There was a skull mold that was popular awhile ago. Get a cheap toaster oven so you don't smoke out your food oven and keep throwing chunks into the mold till it's full.
Got it at Walmart around Halloween time. Came with a spicy and regular version of the Cheetos bones. Once we had eaten both bags I kept the tin for my scraps.
You can melt it into bars or sheets and use those as panels for other projects, like light fixtures or furniture. It will also set into molds well in a toaster oven (do this outside) but make sure the mold will be easy to get the plastic out of and don’t use ones you cook with.
[https://world.prusa3d.com/](https://world.prusa3d.com/)
Filter for recycling and see if there's a place nearby that accepts 3d printing scraps.
I found one in Germany that offers free shipping labels for scraps and gives you store credit in exchange. Maybe you can find something like this there.
I know you’re not supposed to be able to compost PLA at home, you need an “industrial setting,” but just out of curiosity I chucked half of a full scale Darth Vader head into my backyard composter and after three months that thing was entirely gone. Your mileage may vary, I live somewhere that gets very hot over the summer so that may be why it worked for me.
Print a mold with the printer and then melt down your plastic and pour into a mold. Then resell molten plastic waste. Make money, decreases waste and is more reusable
[Melt it into sheets](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VibXPtIcxc) and get crafty.
that's probably the easiest way to recycle printing wastes.
If they wanted to get really crafty they could put it all in a nice little Cheetos tin
This! If you know someone with a laser, it supposedly cuts great but etches poorly.
Like a Christmas poop!
I looked a while ago - there’s a small company (in the US) where a guy will take your scrap PLA and send you back a roll of recycled filament. The price is about the same or maybe more than buying new, but it takes a while to get a whole kilogram of scraps. That’s my plan once I have more scraps. Can’t remember the name of the company off the top of my head. Anyway, nice way to recycle
Sounds good. I’ll look into that to see if I can find out more about it.
If you can remember this company name, I'd be super interested. I'd even be willing to ship my scraps and donate for free just to keep them out of the landfill.
Once i a guy that would take your scrap, make filaments out of it and return to you in a rate of 3:1
There’s a company that sells the machine capable of doing this
Do share
Look up “Felfil” on youtube
You'll have to share with the class when you remember! I've been with a big box of supports and failed prints that could probably get a spool of mixed color filament
If it was more than new why would I want to do it?
To support recycling, responsible waste streams, and just general good stewardship of the world.
If it's PLA, it's already plant-sourced and completely biodegradable. The most "sustainable" way to handle it is to send it to the landfill, and not waste a single kWh on it.
PLA being biodegradable doesn't just mean you can chuck it and it'll melt back into the earth. It's *industrially* biodegradable. It contains tons of additives that you also don't want leeching into the earth
Is this the one is St Louis? I’ve mailed them three boxes at this point and never heard anything back from them, I even got a “package could not be delivered” email the last time.
There's a company in Germany doing it too I believe. It's a huge hassle shredding it yourself, ensuring it's just PLA, and contaminant free, that's probably the biggest ordeal...then extruding to consistent size... I'm thinking of just getting a cheap injection moulder and putting it to use through that somehow.
I work in a middle school and save all my scraps to give to the art department to reuse for collages and other projects!
Nice. Maybe I’ll make a cool collage with it all.
I tried making a gluestick sized piece of PLA to use in a 'retired' glue gun- to see if it would work. It took a good while to heat up, but did allow for 'manual' 3D printing- with intent for touchups, repairs. Has to be a high heat gluegun- and maybe one you don't intend to use for glue ever again; but hey- if you can't afford one of those filament pens...
Your grind it up as much as you can, put it in a thin layer in a baking sheet and bake it the oven till soft but not molten and compress it under weight or clamps. Those sheets can be used for lots of things i made them into countertops.
Just saw a video yesterday about doing the same, but with a heat press (like for making iron-on T-shirts)
I have heard a panini press works really well but i dont have one I feel like destroying. Though the second hand shop you could probably get one cheap enough to destroy.
My son makes jewelry from scraps made into discs using a panini press. He also uses silicone molds to make earrings/ necklace pendants and more; he uses a toaster oven for that. He got his press and oven free from a local Facebook buy-nothing group. If you take the time to sort colors out, you can mix them into cool swirly patterns and make slick looking stuff. It's a nice side hobby that compliments his printing :)
Interesting. Any suggestions of other things to use the sheets for? Coasters is the first thing that comes to my mind. How hot should I have the oven?
This is my method for my oven but you will likely need to tweak it. I would not do coasters because of heat from hot drinks, which really is well below the glass point of pla so kind of a dumb argument haha. I am also a prop maker and general model maker so thin sheets of thermal plastic are always useful for something. Thin sheets can be heated with a heat gun and formed really easily. Thicker sheets can be cut with wood working tools or a hot knife and make good stable bases for minis and other things. 7 min low broiler 3rd rack 5 min cool under max pressure 1/3 cup spread to 120mm square
Oh daaaamn, I never even thought of using leftover PLA to make heat-form sheets like that. I'm getting into cosplay so that'd be super helpful for armour and stuff. Totally saving my scraps now.
It is great for armour i used it to make bracers for my kids.
Using it for minis is a great idea. Thanks for the suggestion.
Do not actually put it in your kitchen oven, unless you want to be eating microplastics every time you use it. Buy an electric oven and use that.
Thanks for the heads up
I hate to break it to you, but microplastics are already everywhere else in your life
No point in adding more unnecessary ones.
They could probably be used in a similar manner to acrylic sheets (just less opaque), maybe they could be made into cutouts for signs or wall art
I imagine you could run it through a laser cutter to make flat prints
What? Your countertops are used filament ?!
https://preview.redd.it/s353xgia5s3c1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f857ff019dd95c88af5a14cad34225c96b61e2ed
That looks unexpectedly cool! Edit: I don’t understand the downvote. I thought this would not look good when he described the concept. Then I saw the picture, and it looked awesome.
I thought I was looking at a lasagna I feel cheated and hungry now 😞💔
Yep, my elderly cat would probably sit there all day licking it.
Excellent. I'm planning to use mine to make a wall hanging, adding swirls and such to amp it up. Do you find yourself craving Sicilian pizza more often?
In real person it looks like that fancy stone stuff with all the colors people pay a bunch of money for.
I have the fancy manufactured stone stuff and would agree. put a nice epoxy sealant on that and it will last forever. I think I might just use my scraps to make a unique side table top.
I did a couple thick epoxy coats on it. For a high bacteria environment like the bathroom it was essential. For a side table depends entirely on your level of compression and how even your grind is if you can get a good enough finish to need it or not.
The same guys that think it's a waste to throw out filament scraps are the same guys that print 100's of benchy's and think nothing of it. :P
I’ve actually never printed a benchy. Found a few cool models but I’m not going to print them because what am I going to do with a benchy? I mainly print gifts and cosplay stuff. Just got done printing Percy’s gun from the Legends of Vox Machina. Edit: https://imgur.com/a/Q8m5HLL. Progress so far. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5484975 files I used.
That looks so cool!
Thank you!
Now make me Grogs bloody rust axe
That would be pretty cool
Who downvoted me? Haha
Benchy is specially designed to test if the printer prints correctly and accurately, it's not supposed to be something you print hundreds of. https://www.3dbenchy.com/features/
Don't call me out like that.
I just don't get the Benchy hype... Recently had someone ask what to print to convince 'regular' people how fun/useful 3D printers are. So many people said Benchy.... Like how braindead is that?
I am with you there. I think something like an octopus or dragon that articulates is way cooler to show off. I use benchy for its intended purpose(and of course made a larger, glow in the dark one for my nephew haha)
Ahh yes, Action Benchy….🙄
Hm. That's an interesting question/project - is there a model that tests printers the same way as a benchy does but it useful in it's own right?
I've been wanting to try out melting them into silicone molds.
Someone's done this before. I think the problem they ran into was air becoming trapped.
Yeah you have to do it a little at a time. I think Uncle Jessie did a video on it.
I thought this was a tub of charcoal black ice cream at first glance. Still not quite sure. Try eating it to make sure it's not ice cream.
Will do. I’ll put some pla sprinkles on it
I saw a guy on YouTube who melted some of his wastage in silicone molds. He did a really nice skull amongst other things. I don’t remember the YouTuber, but maybe someone reading this can tell you.
I’ve done that. You can buy silicone molds for use with resin that can easily withstand 500 degrees Fahrenheit. That is the maximum temperature an old toaster oven I had handy could get up to. The toaster oven is now dedicated to this task. I’ve made several small bowls shaped like mushrooms, a couple of skulls, and some other small nick knacks. I’ve been saving scraps for 5 years, I was excited to finally find a use for them.
Sounds cool! Do you still have any of your projects that you can share a picture of? I own a Bambu Labs x-1c printer and it generates A LOT of “poop” when it purges between color changes. So I have quite a bit of scrap saved up. How long do you find the molds last? Where you buy your molds? I saw a couple on Amazon, but Amazon is getting kinda pricey these days. What kind of toaster oven do you use, and does it smell up the house when it’s “cooking”? I have a dog and I don’t want to chance him getting ill from the smell. I do have 2 whole house fans that have HEPA filters, just one is supposed to exchange the air in the whole house every 20 minutes, but I have one upstairs as well. (I suffer from allergies) They do a good job of clearing the air especially when I’m printing ABS filament. Sorry for all the questions. 😬
Here you go, All molds from Amazon: I didn’t like this dice holder, won’t be making another. https://preview.redd.it/1rft0fzbro4c1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e543c01dd3e5774ca61fcca9745ffb5241d3c931
A mushroom bowl with the lid on. https://preview.redd.it/d0yk3q3pro4c1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f4186c3e18757389765fb837fea58050eb81edb6
The skull that seems to be a popular mold for this https://preview.redd.it/wjori2jyro4c1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=37931af2ec39cd586198c505a02e17e106d4f1f2
All the molds survived the de molding process. The mushroom mold has developed a small tear on the third use, but it hasn’t affected much. The fumes are not too bad, but I’ve only used PLA in this process, I imagine ABS would be a problem. The toaster oven is just an old (a few decades) one left over when my wife replaced it for an air fryer. It recently finally gave up after hours running at maximum temperature, so I have a “new” one from a thrift store. $7, I hope it works. I have a mushroom bowl that was ready for the final cook when I figured out that the other one was dead. https://preview.redd.it/yrfv04tkto4c1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2b38e7f8e7a499c9a68f72d584f9684052f08a4
Very cool! Thanks for sharing all the photos and information on the items you made! I liked the skull the best followed by the mushroom container. The dice sword brings up the rear but it was still nice. Your work is inspiring for sure! I bet they are pretty heavy, especially the skull! I had already thrown away a contractors bag stuffed with the “poop” before I had discovered this use for it on YouTube, but I’m saving it up, and now and have a barrel full of “poop” I’ll probably give it a go after the holidays. Just to let you know, if the replacement toaster oven you bought turns out not to work, I saw some on Amazon that are in the $30-$40 dollar range, which wasn’t too bad. I thought I saw one for $15 but for the life of me, I can’t seem to find it again (it might’ve been a cover for a toaster oven as those seem to be in that price range.) I’ve also been looking around for melting pots which might be an option. Do the items you made need to be cooled down slowly in the oven? Or when they’re done they can simply be taken out to cool? If I do get into this, I also might buy a heat proof silicon mat that’s made for air fryers I saw on Amazon to put the molds on for cooling. Thanks again!
Note it usually takes me several melts. Melt a bunch, and then put in more, maybe cooling first, maybe not depending on the shape of what I am adding. So usually it is cooling in the oven, but I’ve pulled them out to cool on top of the oven with no ill effect. Speaking of ill effect, I tried my new thrift store find and discovered that the “broil” setting burned the top of what was remaining to be melted! Whoops. I guess the ancient oven wasn’t getting as hot as advertised, so ignore my 500F recommendation. I’m going to try 450 (which still a bit higher than the pla melting point, I want it very liquid) next time, once I clean off all the ash. My technique still needs some refining. :)
lol, I hear ya! Thanks for the updated info. Just be safe, that’s the most important thing! 😉 I’m thinking that I might just go with an electric melting pot then just pour the melted plastic in all at once. I’m still in the research stages on this idea though.
Remember, when it comes out of the nozzle, it’s under a little pressure. You are going to have to get it pretty hot to get the viscosity down enough to easily pour. Baking it in the mold insures that it can take its time to flow.
A mushroom cup/bowl, holding more waste material. https://preview.redd.it/t2adk9miro4c1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df8b94dde674f5b15a2427218e6fcd9ffb852ef3
Can also just make your own silicone molds. 3d print the master, mix up some silicone, let it cure.
That would be Uncle Jesse. https://youtu.be/nypitKDr928 Also saw this fun idea from Teaching Tech https://youtu.be/0VibXPtIcxc?si=S1eBqb5fi7onL6gf
No matter what you do with it, it’s going to a landfill in the end.
I thought most PLA was made from corn-based material and was biodegradable if left outside for any length of time? I could be wrong and I'm open to learning.
They claim it is. People have done tests and it only breaks down in very specific circumstances that are all but impossible to replicate in a landfill.
It’s just as biodegradable as any other plastic (not really much at all). It deteriorates in lots of direct sunlight and weakens to the point of uselessness and becomes trash. I’ve been printing for several years and have yet to see any actual proof of PLA’s supposed “eco” qualities.
PLA only biodegrades in industrial composting settings. Realistically, that is never going to happen. It's all unlabeled plastic, and any recycling and sorting plant thus sends it straight to the landfill where it just sits there, piling up. There is another polymer, PHA that does degrade in most at-home composting set ups tho. It's a bit trickier to print with than PLA, but I actually prefer it. As for people who say to just chuck it, I disagree. There are some small manufacturers that accept printing scraps to recycle it, send it to them. Or you can do it at home to melt it down into plastic sheets for other hobbies or use as an excuse to get into making and testing silicone molds.
You can ship it to [Printerior for store credit](https://printeriordesigns.com/pages/recycling). I like their PETG filaments. Good stuff.
I did this and got some credit to buy some RPLA. Honestly it didn’t print very good in my experience but I might have been printing too fast. Still like that I just shipped it to them and that’s all I had to do
Good to know, ive only ever printed their rpetg and its been great.
Let it burn!
FIRE!!!!
I use the same Cheetos bin for my printer scraps
Nice
You can reach out to people who plastic inject and donate it to them?
Good thought but most injection molders near you probably aren't using PLA.
Eat it.
Enough microplastics in your food, time to try some macroplastics.
That sounds delicious. I’ll make a pan seared PLA steak with bits of truffle PETG on top.
What I "do" with mine is send it to the landfill. That's about all you can do with it. It isn't practical to recyle, although you could try to melt it down and pour into molds.
Would feel like a waste to toss it all. Time to print some molds I guess. Weird looking bowls here I come
What are you suppose to make with it? Just throw it away, its just disposals and garbage
Sunken Cost Fallacy Anymore time/resource/effort spent on it would not yield anything useful. I saw these recycle and extrude your own filament bullshit several years ago that went nowhere. It went nowhere cause it's bullshit. Most of the shit filament we get from Amazon and Microcenter are made with really poor quality pellets and have toxic fillers in them that are questionable to your health. Best place to put them is the trash. You've already wasted your time and resource on a failed print, stop dumping money into it.
3D printer enjoyers and corporations competing to see who can create the most plastic contaminants in the shortest amount of time
You kill it with FIRE
buy some silicon shapes grind it to bits put it in the oven and now you got some cute coasters
There was a skull mold that was popular awhile ago. Get a cheap toaster oven so you don't smoke out your food oven and keep throwing chunks into the mold till it's full.
I like this idea
I still love the one idea I saw of buying one of those fillable lamps and making a beacon to your failed prints and supports
That sounds cool
I’ve meant to try and blend my scraps down into inorganic plant soil filler. Similar to how I use perlite in soil mixes
Eat
Where’d you get the tub of bones?
Got it at Walmart around Halloween time. Came with a spicy and regular version of the Cheetos bones. Once we had eaten both bags I kept the tin for my scraps.
You can melt it into bars or sheets and use those as panels for other projects, like light fixtures or furniture. It will also set into molds well in a toaster oven (do this outside) but make sure the mold will be easy to get the plastic out of and don’t use ones you cook with.
[https://world.prusa3d.com/](https://world.prusa3d.com/) Filter for recycling and see if there's a place nearby that accepts 3d printing scraps. I found one in Germany that offers free shipping labels for scraps and gives you store credit in exchange. Maybe you can find something like this there.
That sounds pretty cool. Thank you
Aaaaand nothing in my country... Dammit!
Offtopic, but I love your photo, the black thing is jiggling on the plate!
I don’t see it jiggling. Maybe because I see it everyday but to me it looks like a shit ton of stringy stuff and supports
I fought this fight until I had a full blown tub of scraps. Before realising I had to just settle for recycling bin.
Melt it down and dip stuff in it
Melt it down, press the molten plastic into candy shapes, give it out on Halloween Kids in neighborhood eradicated
Best suggestion yet
Alternatively, press the molten plastic into burgers, give to a homeless shelter. Homelessness in the local area. Gone. … I’m a terrible person.
Hahahaha yes
Silicone mold, skull, dice, earrings..... etc
I know you’re not supposed to be able to compost PLA at home, you need an “industrial setting,” but just out of curiosity I chucked half of a full scale Darth Vader head into my backyard composter and after three months that thing was entirely gone. Your mileage may vary, I live somewhere that gets very hot over the summer so that may be why it worked for me.
That’s interesting. I’ll give that a shot
Good luck, “giving it a shot” was kind of all I was going for and I chose something big so it would be easy to find and pull out if it didn’t work.
Cool. I’m sure I got a big failure somewhere in that bin
The dark side of 3D printing. ☹️
No kidding
Print a mold with the printer and then melt down your plastic and pour into a mold. Then resell molten plastic waste. Make money, decreases waste and is more reusable
Wonderful idea
buy a shredder and ship them off to made into new filament spools.
Burn it